Somethings Time Cannot Change
by rajanakhi
Summary: Shuichi leaves Yuki, three years later Yuki finally finds him again. Will Shuichi be willing to accept him again? Will he even want to leave the new life he has created in America? Rated M for later chapters. COMPLETE  finally
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own anything involving the world of Gravitation.

3 Years

By Crimson Tears

Chapter 1

"Yuki…?"

"Shut up brat, I'm working."

"Can't you just listen to me for one minute?…Please?" Shuichi asked frustration and sadness evident in his voice.

Yuki stopped typing and turned to look at his little lover. This was indeed a side of Shu he wasn't used to. "What is it?"

"What…what exactly am I to you?" Shuichi asked quietly, looking down at the ground. "I want the truth!" He continued suddenly, his vibrant purple eyes, full of desperation, locking with Yuki's cold amber ones.

Yuki stared down at him. "You interrupted my work for this? Can't we talk about this later or something? I have a deadline to meet."

"You _always_ have a deadline!" Shuichi accused, tears beginning to form in his eyes.

Yuki stared at Shuichi in shock. His lover was actually serious."…Shuichi…" Was all he could say. You would think that after years of writing romance novels coming up with a sappy phrase to calm a lover would be easy. However, no words came. All Yuki could do was watch as his Shuichi turned, picked up a packed bag, and leave.

'_Wow.'_ Yuki thought, '_he must have been thinking about this pretty hard for a while. Oh well. He probably just went over to Nakano-sans place. I'll call in the morning and make it up to him. Maybe I'll take him to that theme park he's been wanting to go to. Yeah, I'll just do that.'_ Feeling calmer and more satisfied with himself, Yuki went to bed. Unaware that Shuichi had just boarded a red-eye flight to Seattle.

--The Next Morning--

"Yuki-san? What do you want?"

"Is Shuichi there? I need to talk to him."

"Why would he be here? Unless of course you kicked him out again."

"…I didn't kick him out." Yuki growled.

"Wait…are you telling me Shuichi's missing!?"

"…Look I'm busy. I have to go."

"Yu-"

'_Damn. The brat didn't go there. Where did he go then?'_

13 phone calls later Yuki was still as clueless as ever. And now his own phone was ringing off the hook with everyone else wondering what was going on. Sighing, Yuki grabbed his coat and headed out for a walk in the park. He really needed to clear his head.

Sitting on a park bench Yuki pulled out the lighter with the picture of himself and Shuichi on it. Even though he quit smoking two years ago, (I wish!) he still kept his lighter. It was just one of those things he didn't want to part with. Yuki closed his eyes in thought. The brat had not showed up for work today, nor had he talked to anyone, including his own family. He had disappeared completely.

_'Last night...Did something happen? I know I kicked him out, but that's not exactly unusual. Damn it! What did I do?'_

Yuki resolved to first find his lover and sort all of this out later. Over the next few weeks he dropped everything and scoured every inch of Japan to no avail. 3 years later Yuki was still gorgeous as ever, still a best-selling romance novelist (although his books were darker now), and still searching for Shuichi. No matter what people said, he refused to give up.


	2. On Tour

Thanks to DarkMetalAngel of Destruction, ryuchi-shuichi41, chrono-contract, and roni-chan for your reviews. They really helped a lot. Seriously. I appreciate all comments/suggestions people have.

Disclaimer: I do not own gravitation. Unfortunately.

**On with chapter 2.**

_Beep…Beep…Beep…_

Shuichi groaned as he fumbled around for his alarm clock. Upon finding it he chucked it across the room where it hit the wall and was silenced, probably forever. He then proceeded to snuggle back under the covers; it was Sunday after-all. He could sleep in. …Couldn't he?

One hour later he was re-awoken by a loud pounding on his door.

"Riley! Riley! Open up!"

Riley.

Shuichi's alias.

--------Flashback--------

Shuichi sat in his seat, staring out into the black sky that lay beyond the planes' window. Although he appeared relatively calm, inside his emotions were in a state of turmoil. His heart screamed at him to march up to the pilot and demand that the plane be turned around. His mind, however, argued that going back would do him no good, that it was for the best that he left Japan and all its memories behind. For the first time in his life, Shuichi ignored the feelings in his heart.

To wound-up to sleep, Shuichi spent the remainder of the ten hour flight brushing up on his English. K had taught him the language last year when they had gone on tour through England.

Being determined to go through with his decision to stay away from Japan and Yuki, Shuichi headed down to the courthouse after arriving and immediately got his name changed. (There are flights from Japan to Seattle that make it so you leave in the evening and arrive in the afternoon, these also lessen the jetlag. This is the kind of flight Shuichi is on). When he left the building he was officially Riley Hansen. He then went to a drug store where he bought brown hair dye and blue colored contacts. (I don't actually know where you get colored contacts so just go with it please). It was only later, when the sun had set and he was tired from touring all day, that Shuichi realized he had no place to stay. Not only that, in his haste to leave he had forgotten to take money. He could transfer it, but someone might track it and come drag him back to Japan. No. He would start over completely. With the little he had with him, he got a hotel room, deciding that tomorrow, he would get a job and an apartment.

Job-hunting was harder than Shuichi expected. He eventually got a part-time job at a downtown club. It was there that he met his new best friends Sean Ferris and Bandon Trick. Sean played guitar for the club's band while Brandon was on drums.

Three people knew about Shuichi's past, two of them were Brandon and Sean.

----------End Flashback---------

"Shuichi!!" Shuichi snapped out of his reverie and yanked the door open.

"I told you never to call me that!" He snapped

"Relax dude, no one's around to hear." Shuichi just glared. "You weren't responding so I had to get your attention somehow. Anyway. I just thought I would stop by and make sure you were packed."

"…Packed?"

"You _DO_ remember that we are leaving for our tour tomorrow, right?"

About a year and a half ago the vocalist for the club's band had gotten a better job offer. After much convincing by Sean and Brandon, Shuichi reluctantly agreed to fill in until they found a new vocalist. However, Shuichi, being as good as he is, was absolutely _adored_ by the crowds so he stayed on permanently. About 5 months later a talent scout caught wind of the band and went down to listen. One thing led to another and here they were, about to leave for their very first tour. Of course Shuichi had been hesitant at first. But, it had been three years! By now everyone he knew in Japan had moved on and forgotten him.

Shuichi's eyes widened in shock, "Oh shit! I totally forgot!"

"I thought you had." Sean said smiling. "I'll help you pack. But first, lets call Brandon and grab some breakfast…or lunch." He said checking his watch. "You sleep in really late!"

Shuichi pouted at his friend. "Hey! We had a hard week!" Which was true. The band had worked 5-9 preparing for their tour.

Sean laughed, "Whatever Ry, lets go get Brandon."

Two weeks later the tour was proceeding very smoothly. They had been through most of the U.S. and parts of Canada. Now they were in New York where they would play that night before heading back to Seattle to end the tour. (The tour wasn't very long because they were new).

Presently the group was driving down to MTV studios for a guest appearance. They were also running very late.

------15 minutes later------

Shuichi, Sean, and Brandon ran into the MTV building

"OW!" Shuichi yelled. "Something just flew into my eye!" He began to rub his eye profusely. He was so determined to get the offending thing out of his eye that he didn't notice when his blue contact fell out onto the elevator floor.

The instant they stepped off the elevator a man rushed them to a room and announced to the host that the band had finally arrived.

Seconds later they found themselves thrown into a room full of screaming fans, mostly girls trying to get Shuichi to notice them.

The host welcomed them all to the show to which the band members thanked him and apologized for being late. The host was about to ask them a question when he stopped and gave Shuichi a weird look.

"Riley, why is one of you eyes…purple?"

Ok everyone, there's chapter 2. Just so you guys know, I usually will update Friday or Saturday. I am banned from the computer during weekdays. I tried to update on Tuesday and my mom freaked out when she saw me on the computer. Anyway, if you have any advice/suggestions/problems with my writing style, story, or whatever else there is please feel free to tell me.

**-Crimson Tears**


	3. Found Him

Shuichi's eyes widened, 'Oh shit

Ok I felt bad not updating for a week so I decided to do one more chapter before the end of the weekend. Thank you to Prinsesa11, Vampire of the Bloody Rose, Hunter Hatake and Neko Uchiha, Mio32, and ryuchi-shuichi41 for reviewing. You have no idea how much that helps!

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation or the lyrics to the song so just leave me alone

--

"_Riley, why is one of your eyes…purple?"_

--

3 Years

Chapter 3

Shuichi's eyes widened, '_Oh shit! My contact!'_

"Oh shit! His contact!" Sean and Brandon muttered simultaneously under their breath.

Apparently the host heard them because he turned to Shuichi and said," Riley I didn't know you wear contacts."

'_What am I supposed to do now? Do I tell him my eyes are actually purple? I'm screwed.'_ Shuichi thought. "…umm…"

"This is how it is." Brandon cut in. "We just got out of a photo shoot for which Riley here was required to wear purple-colored contacts. Obviously the idiot forgot to take one out while we were rushing to get here on time."

'_Thank God for Brandon and his quick thinking!'_ Shuichi thought, feeling incredibly grateful towards his friend. "Yeah, that's exactly what happened." Shuichi stated in agreement while Sean nodded his head.

"I want to see Riley with purple eyes!" A girl from the audience screamed out. A chorus of agreement from the rest of the audience met this outburst.

Shuichi smiled, "Alright, alright. I'll be right back." He said before rushing off to find a bathroom.

"And so will we after these brief messages." The host said to the camera.

Shuichi ran into the bathroom where he quickly removed and discarded his blue contact. Running a hand through his hair he cursed. _'How could this happen? If anyone in Japan sees this they'll recognize me for sure!'_

"Riley? Are you ok?" Sean asked coming up behind him. "The host said we just have to do a performance and then we can leave."

Shuichi smiled at his friend, Sean was almost as protective of Shuichi as Hiro had been. "I'll be fine." He stated in a voice that he hoped sounded confident. Sean gave him a disbelieving look but didn't say anything.

"Hey guys," Brandon said poking his head through the door, "They're ready for us to perform now. Assuming you're ok with that Ry."

"I'm fine."

"Lets go then!"

The trio then proceeded back to the set to perform.

'_Oh well.'_ Shuichi thought as Brandon and Sean began to play, _'Anything that happens now is beyond my control.'_

_**When you refuse me**_

_**You confuse me**_

_**What makes you think I'll let you in again**_

_**Think again my friend**_

_**Go on misuse me and abuse me**_

_**I'll come out stronger in the end**_

_**And does it make you sad**_

_**To find yourself alone**_

_**And does it make you mad**_

_**To find that I have grown**_

_**I'll bet it hurts so bad**_

_**To see the strength that I have shown**_

5,000 miles away Tohma Seguchi stared at his T.V. in shock. At first he hadn't believed what his eyes were telling him, but then he had heard the boy sing.

_**When you answer the door pick up the phone**_

_**You wont find me cause I'm not coming home**_

There was no mistaking it.

_**You do not know how much this hurts me**_

_**To say these things that I don't want to say**_

_**But have to say them anyway**_

_**I would do anything to end your suffering**_

_**But you would rather walk away**_

Riley Hansen was Shuichi Shindou.

The very person his dear brother in law had been searching for these past three years.

_**And does it make you sad**_

_**To find yourself alone**_

_**And does it make you mad**_

_**To find that I have grown**_

Speaking of Eiri-san, he should probably call him right about now.

Tohma quickly paused the T.V. and picked up the phone.

_**I'll bet it hurts so bad**_

_**To see the strength that I have shown**_

_**When you answer the door pick up the phone**_

_**You won't find me cause I'm not coming home**_

--xXx--

Yuki was sitting at home attempting to finish the last chapter of his latest novel when his phone rang. Deciding he needed a break from writing anyway, he picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Eiri-san, I have something important to tell you."

"Tohma? What is it? I'm busy so make it short."

"I found him."

There was a long pause as Yuki's brain tried to process this information.

"Eiri-san? Are you still there?"

"I'll be down there in ten minutes." Yuki said and hung up.

Somehow Yuki managed to make the normally 20 minute drive to NG in seven and one-half minutes unharmed.

--xXx--

Yuki burst through the double doors of Tohma's office. "Well? Where is he?"

"Come look." Tohma said pointing the remote at the T.V. and replaying the show.

"Tohma what is this? I thought you said you found Shuichi!" Yuki said, slightly irritated.

"Just watch Eiri-san." Tohma said smiling.

Three Americans suddenly appeared on the set. '_Wait, no.'_ Yuki thought, _'One of them is…'_"Shuichi!!"

--xXx--

There is chapter 3. I have four written out and I will try my best to post it sometime this week. If I can't it will definitely be up by Friday or Saturday at the latest.

Oh and the song was "Not Coming Home" by Maroon 5. If you want to hear the actual thing just give me your e-mail address and I can send it to you.

Please Review and tell me what you think! Thanks!

-Crimson tears


	4. All the way from Japan

Yuki stared at the T

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. You guys make me so happy.

**Vyravyra**: You're right, Shuichi does always suffer, but I don't think he will in this story so much. But we'll see.

**Spiritually-lunar:** Yuki is kind of in between being mean and kind. He tries to be nice but it doesn't always work that way.

**Dark galaxy, alice22, chrono-contract, Roni-chan**: I'm glad you guys like it, I promise I will update as soon as I can.

**ryuchi-shuichi41:** Yep, they know who riley is, but who's to say when Yuki and Shuichi will meet.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything connected to Gravitation.

--xXx--

Yuki stared at the T.V. in disbelief. At first Yuki had believed himself to be watching an identical twin of Shuichi's; there was no way this boy could be his Shuichi. Indeed, the figure on the screen looked nothing like the Shuichi he had known. This boy had dark brown hair in place of Shuichi's trademark pink hair. His eyes (without the contacts) were still as purple as ever, they just seemed less innocent and almost sad. The thing that shocked Yuki the most however, was Shuichi's clothes. They were still incredibly sexy but in a much more elegant and sophisticated way. He wore black pants, a maroon button up shirt with a few buttons undone at the top, and a black jacket over the top.

Feelings of shock and disbelief overwhelmed Yuki and he sank down into a nearby chair watching motionlessly as Shuichi finish his song. When it was over Tohma switched off the T.V. There were a few minutes of silence before Yuki finally got his voice back.

"Get me over there. Now! I want to be on the first plane to New York no matter what."

Tohma smiled. He hadn't seen his friend so full of energy since, well, Shuichi left. "Don't worry Eiri-san, I've taken care of everything. I've got two tickets to Seattle and-"

"_Seattle_?! Why the fuck would I want to go to Seattle? Shuichi is in _New York."_

"Presently, yes. However Shuichi leaves for Seattle immediately after his concert tonight. There is no way we could reach him before he left."

"…You really do think of everything, don't you." Yuki said, sounding slightly annoyed.

Tohma smiled. "Of course I do."

"Wait…why two tickets? I only need one."

"Because I'm going with you of course."

Yuki looked at Tohma like he was crazy. "No."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Because why?"

"Because I bought the tickets. Also, you are not the only one interested in Shuichi. I want to see how much his singing has changed. That and there might be a possible business opportunity."

Yuki gave Tohma a calculating look and was silent for a while. Finally he responded. "Fine, when do we leave?"

"As soon as we get to the airport," Tohma said smiling. "Don't worry I've already taken care of your packing for you."

About half an hour later they were at the airport standing in front of Tohma's private jet.

"You liar! You didn't buy tickets!"

Tohma looked at his friend. "Does it really matter, Eiri-san, how you get over there as long as you do get over there?"

"…No." Yuki grumbled. "But you still lied to me."

5 hours later Yuki and Tohma landed in Seattle.

--xXx--

Shuichi stumbled into his empty apartment. His roommate had left to visit family and would not be back for two days. (A/N yes Shuichi has a roommate, I just didn't know how to fit it in before). Shuichi threw his bags on the floor and fell into his bed. He was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Shuichi woke up at 11a.m. the next day. After showering, dressing, and eating, he headed down to the stage to prepare for the final concert of the tour. The instant he entered the building, his manager came running up to him with an exited look on his face. "Congratulations Riley! Your on your way to becoming an internationally famous pop star!" Shuichi responded with a confused look. "About 20 minutes ago I got a call from a man with a strange accent. It turns out he and his friend flew all the way from _Japan_ just to see your concert! Lucky for them I had one last box seat open…" Shuichi didn't hear the rest of his managers' rambling. His whole body had gone numb and he suddenly felt very sick. Shuichi turned and ran out of the building, ignoring his manager's confused face and attempts to stop him. _'Oh God,'_ Shuichi thought, _'they found me. Probably because of that stupid incident in New York.' _He jumped into his car and drove to his favorite park. Ever since that night he had first met Yuki, parks had always been a getaway for him. They were a refuge when he needed to calm down or be at peace. They helped him think.

About two hours later Shuichi heard to voices calling his name. He recognized them as Brandon and Sean. Shuichi got up and walked toward their voices.

"Riley!" They shouted when they saw him. "So this is where you've been. Are you all right? Our manager told us you freaked out when you heard people from Japan are going to be at the concert."

"I'm fine guys. Besides, it might not even be him you know. There are so many other people it could be. I'm sure he has moved on and doesn't even care by now. I'll be fine. Trust me."

Brandon and Sean looked at each other, unsure of what to say. They had found out from the manager the names of the two Japanese people and had decided it would be best not to tell Shuichi. However, they both knew that deep down, Shuichi still really loved this Yuki person and missed him tremendously. Even if he never admitted it out right, his songs told them so.

"Alright then," Sean said, "lets get down to the stage. We only have a few hours before the show starts."

--xXx--

Yuki paced around impatiently. He couldn't figure out how going to Shuichi's concert would help. The kid probably even knew he was here since Tohma had managed to make their purchase of the tickets so apparent. It wasn't like he would even get a chance to talk to him at a place like this with so many people.

"Eiri-san relax." Tohma said as he watched his friend pace the length of the room for the millionth time. "Sit down, the concert is going to start soon. I'm interested to see how much Shindou-san has improved." As if right on cue the opening act ended and "Riley" and his band mates walked out onto the stage. Yuki could have sworn he saw Shuichi glance up to where he was. After a few opening words Shuichi began to sing. Yuki was amazed at how calming it was to hear that voice. He had missed it more than he thought.

_**Can you see me?**_

_**Floating above your head**_

_**As you lay in bed**_

_**Thinking about everything**_

_**That you did not do**_

_**Cause saying I love you**_

_**Has nothing to do with meaning it**_

_**And I don't trust you**_

_**Cause every time you're here**_

_**Your intentions are unclear**_

_**I spend every hour waiting for a phone call**_

_**That I know will never come**_

_**I used to think you were the one**_

_**Now I'm sick of thinking anything at all…**_

Yuki listened to Shuichi's songs in silence. It seemed to Yuki that all of the songs were written for or about him.

When Shuichi was about to start his last song Tohma turned to Yuki and said, "Eiri-san how well did you know Shindou-san before he left?"

"I _thought_ I knew him completely, obviously I was wrong."

"Do you remember what he would do every time he wanted to escape from all the fangirls after a concert?" Yuki just stared at Tohma, wondering why on earth he was bringing this up. Then it hit him. In less than a minute Yuki was out of the building.

--xXx--

Shuichi finished his last song and shouted a "thank you" and "goodnight" to the crowd before leaving the stage. He grabbed his things and left through the back exit of the stage that led to an ally way near where his car was parked. He was in such a hurry to get to his car and leave that he didn't notice the figure walking towards him until he ran straight into him. Shuichi collided the person and fell backwards onto the pavement. He was about to apologize when he heard an all too familiar voice. "God brat, do you ever look where you're going?"

--xXx—

Ok there's chapter 4. The song was "Through With You" by Maroon 5. I'm kind of going through a Maroon 5 phase right now. Anyway, review and tell me what you think and maybe I'll update the next chapter I have written out tomorrow. By the way, I realized I never gave Shuichi's band a name so if anyone has any ideas, tell me. Thank you!

-Crimson Tears


	5. Why?

Shuichi froze for a second then slowly looked up, still in the position he had fallen in

I would just like to point out that on the last chapter I tried to put all my reviewers names in bold but I still don't really know how to do stuff on this website so I'm sorry. Ok I'll see if it works this time.

Thank you to **mio32, lilrocker, alice22, DarkMetalAngel of Destruction, Loveless19, chrono-contract** (I just have to say your review made me laugh. A lot. I don't really know why either. But thank you for the enthusiasm**). CharmedWKUKOne, Prinsesa11, jabberwalk, Gyoro and Ururun, **and** Roni-chan** for reviewing. And thank you to three who gave me name options.

Disclaimer: yeah I don't own gravitation. …I wish I did.

3 Years

Chapter 5

--xXx--

Shuichi froze for a second then slowly looked up, still in the position he had fallen in. Blue-lensed eyes locked with amber ones as Shuichi stared into the face of the man he had evaded for so long. Finally regaining control of himself Shuichi stood up, ignoring the helping hand Yuki had offered.

"Yuki, you're as eloquent as ever I see." Shuichi stated curtly. "Why did you come here?" He asked coldly.

"I could ask you the very same question, _Shu-chan,_ oh wait, I guess it's _Riley_ now isn't it." Yuki shot back, his voice equally icy.

Shuichi glowered at the use of his old nickname Yuki used to call him. Yuki was the only one he had ever allowed to call him that. He stopped glaring at Yuki when he heard a commotion coming from the street. People were leaving the building. "I have to go." Shuichi said and moved to get around Yuki but Yuki would have none of this and grabbed his arm as he tried to walk by.

"Do you honestly think that after searching for you for three years I would just let you run off the instant I found you?"

"Three years? Yeah right. You probably just looked around town for a few weeks and gave up." Shuichi said as he tried to twist his arm out of Yuki's grasp. His efforts proved fruitless; Yuki had an iron grip. He heard voices getting closer; he really didn't want to deal with fans right now. "Let go!"

"No. Not until you agree to talk with me."

"There isn't anything for us to talk about so let go!" Shuichi hissed. He would have shouted but he didn't want to attract attention.

"No!" Yuki shouted sharply, backing Shuichi towards the brick wall of the alleyway. "I won't-" Yuki stopped suddenly. Staring into his eyes, Yuki saw only fear reflected back at him. He sighed as he let go and stepped back. "Can't we just talk? Please?" He asked softly. Shuichi closed his eyes, trying to figure out his thoughts. However, just as he opened his mouth to speak, there came a loud squeal from the other end of the alley followed by a shout of, "OMG! It's Riley!" Shuichi didn't even think as he grabbed Yuki's hand and dragged him out of the alleyway, doing his best to keep his face covered to avoid any problematic photos the press might take; he didn't want to have to explain who Yuki was. Shuichi led the way to a little white BMW parked on the side of the street. "Get in." He said shortly. He could see people coming around the corner. The instant Yuki had closed his door Shuichi sped off.

After a few minutes of silence Yuki finally spoke. "When did you learn to drive?" _'More importantly, who actually let you have a car and license?'_

Shuichi glanced over at Yuki with a look that said 'I really don't want to talk to you right now,' but he answered anyway. "Brandon and Sean, my band mates, taught me 2 years ago."

Yuki stared out his window for a few seconds before he responded with "oh." At first, teaching Shuichi how to drive seemed like the most terrible ordeal ever. But the more Yuki thought about it, teaching Shuichi how to drive almost seemed…fun.

"Where are we going?" Yuki asked after a few more minutes of silence.

Shuichi looked over at Yuki briefly with a cold look of warning in his eyes. "To my apartment. I was going to take us somewhere more public, but I would rather not have to deal with any fans right now." Yuki decided it would be best if he avoided making Shuichi too much angrier and kept quiet for the rest of the drive. Luckily the awkward silence didn't last much longer; about one minute later they arrived at a tall, elegant looking building near the water.

"Come on." Shuichi said as he shut off the car and got out. Yuki followed Shuichi into the building and into the elevator. They rode the elevator all the way to the top floor in silence.

When they got to the top, Shuichi unlocked the apartment door and let Yuki in. Shuichi's "apartment" was huge. It consisted of a fair sized kitchen, dining area and living room all connected into one big room, with a few doors connected to rooms that led out of the kitchen. A relatively large balcony looked out over the lake and had a staircase that Yuki assumed led to the roof. From the living room there was a rather long and wide hallway with 5 or 6 closed doors. Yuki looked around. The place was…pretty and kind of girly. The more Yuki thought about it seemed too feminine for even Shuichi.

"I'm going to take a shower. We can talk after that."

After Yuki heard Shuichi turn on the water, he headed to the kitchen to make some coffee. As he looked for the coffee, he was shocked to see that much of the food in Shuichi's cupboards actually required actual cooking and baking in order to be eaten. There were very few instant meals. _'Shuichi can't cook now too, can he?'_ Yuki thought. Shuichi cooking seemed just as strange as Shuichi driving. He felt a little more at ease when he opened a cupboard only to find boxes upon boxes of strawberry Pocky and a few more of Shuichi's favorite snacks. _'I guess some things never change.'_ Yuki thought smiling slightly. Just then Shuichi's cell phone rang. Yuki hesitated for a second before answering it.

"Hello?"

"…Who is this? Where is Riley?" Came a voice from the other end.

"This is Yuki. _Shuichi_ is in the shower right now. Who are you?"

"Yuki? As in Riley's old boyfriend from Japan Yuki?

"Yes." Said Yuki starting to get irritated. "Now tell me who you are and what the fuck you want! And stop calling him Riley!"

"This is Sean. His friend. I wanted to warn Shuichi that you were here but I guess it's too late for that."

"What do you mean "warn Shuichi" it's not like I came here to kill him or something."

"I don't care! Stay away from him!"

"Why? I'm not doing anything illegal! I have just as much right to talk to him as you do."

"Fine. But know this, if I hear that you have upset Shuichi in even the slightest way, you are a dead man." With that Sean hung up. Good timing too. Yuki heard the shower get turned off in the bathroom and quickly put the phone back where he had found it.

'_Where does Shuichi find all these overly protective friends? Honestly, that dumbass actually had the nerve to threaten me!'_

Shuichi stepped out of the bathroom wearing sweats and a tank top. Yuki also noticed that he no longer wore his blue contacts, a fact provided Yuki with much comfort; the purple eyes made him look more like the Shuichi he had known.

"Alright, what did you want to talk about?" Shuichi asked, before Yuki could make any comment on his eyes.

"Oh hmm I don't know, maybe why you just up and left suddenly."

Shuichi stared at him an incredulous look his face. "You honestly don't know?" When Yuki shook his head no Shuichi marched over to the door and opened it. "Ok, nice talk, you can go now."

"What? So after three years you aren't eve going to tell me why you left? What the fuck Shuichi!"

"After three years you should have been able to figure it out for yourself!"

At this Yuki looked away. "You're right, I should have. But then again, I can't even figure out what you saw in me in the first place." He murmured softly.

Shuichi was slightly stunned by Yuki's passive response. Actually very stunned considering he was utterly speechless. Shuichi felt a stinging sensation in his eyes and it took him a moment to realize he was on the verge of tears. He stared down at the ground, biting his lip to keep the tears from falling and wondering what on earth had even brought them on. Suddenly the edges of his vision began to blur. He vaguely felt himself falling backwards and then someone catching him before his mind was plunged into the dark pit of unconsciousness.

--xXx--

Ok. Well. Yeah…I had some problems writing this chapter. I think I re-wrote it about 4 times. Please tell me if you liked or if I should like re-write it again or something. Or you know, just review. Thank you!

-Crimson Tears


	6. Chapter 6

Sorry for the long wait everyone, I kind of had writers block

Sorry for the long wait everyone, I kind of had writers block. Thank you for all the reviews; they are greatly appreciated. Seriously. And no, Shuichi is not going to die, he's fine, he just got a little stressed out. :D Anyway here is chapter 6.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation.

--xXx--

Shuichi awoke in the warmth and comfort of his own bed. Smiling, he snuggled down into the pillow. About 30 seconds later his eyes shot open as he remembered what had happened. Shuichi groaned and pulled the covers over his head in vain hope that if he disappeared then his problems would vanish right along with him. After a few minutes the covers became too stuffy and he forced himself to crawl out of the bed. _'Maybe,'_ Shuichi thought desperately,_' just maybe, Yuki left. Then I won't have to deal with this.'_ However, the appetizing smells coming from the kitchen made Shuichi think otherwise. He hadn't even realized how hungry he was until he was in the kitchen, staring at the tasty looking chocolate-chip pancakes Yuki was currently making.

Yuki glanced down at Shuichi. "How are you feeling?" He asked before flipping the pancakes onto a plate.

"I was fine until you showed up." Shuichi said, crossing his arms and glaring at Yuki.

"Wow. Someone's mature." Yuki said sarcastically," Forgive me for looking after your well-being."

"Since when have you ever cared about my well-being?"

"I've always cared about your well-being!"

"You could have fooled me!"

"Well next time you collapse, I'll just let you fall onto the hardwood floor and leave you there!" Yuki yelled.

Shuichi stared at Yuki, trying to remember what had happened, "…I collapsed?"

"You don't remember?"

"…No…I remember meeting you after the show and then driving here."

"Well, the doctor said it was possible you would have some temporary memory loss but you would be otherwise fine."

"There was a doctor here?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No, I just think it's strange you would go through the trouble of calling a doctor for me. If I remember correctly, you hate doctors."

"Well I had to make sure there was nothing seriously wrong with you."

Shuichi didn't say anything; he just took the plate of pancakes and a jar of peanut butter and sat down at the table to eat. As he ate Shuichi watched Yuki carefully as he began to clean up the kitchen. "When did you change clothes?"

"While you were passed out, I drove back to my hotel for clean clothes and to make sure Tohma got back ok."

"Seguchi-san is here as well? Actually that makes sense, he's the only one who could have gotten those tickets on such short notice."

"Anyway, he said he was going to stop by today before he flew down to L.A. for business."

"Are you going with him?" Shuichi asked, trying not to sound to hopeful.

"No, I thought I would stay here for a while." Yuki replied casually. "I'm taking a few weeks off before I start working on my new novel."

" Well, I would offer to show you around but unfortunately, I have work." Shuichi said in fake disappointment.

"Oh really? You might want to recheck that because Tohma spoke with your manager last night and he said you had the next two weeks off."

"Even if I do, why the hell would I want to spend them with you? In case you haven't noticed, I've been doing fine here! I don't need you anymore!"

"Oh yeah you're doing great! Which explains why your bathroom cabinet is full of anti-depressants!"

"Why the fuck were you going through my stuff in the first place! And anyway did you even check the date on those? They're from like two years ago!"

"Then why the hell are they still sitting in your bathroom cupboard? Why would you keep them if you didn't need them?"

"Why should I bother answering you? Honestly! Is this why you came here? To insult me? Because if it was then you can just leave. I've managed to survive without you and you've managed to survive without me for three years!"

"It doesn't matter if I can or not, Shuichi, it's that I don't want to." Yuki said softly, avoiding eye contact. "I don't want to have to live out the rest of my life without you. Shuichi, please believe that I never meant hurt you. I don't know what I did wrong, but I swear I will make it up to you."

"I hate to break it to you Yuki, but it's a little late for that."

Yuki stood up from the chair he had been sitting in. "You know Shuichi I see that coming here was a waste of my time. You are not anything like the Shuichi I knew." He said, grabbing his coat and opening the door. "I really did mean what I said earlier, about not wanting to hurt you." With that Yuki walked out and closed the door.

Shuichi sank down onto the floor, tears flowing out of his eyes. For the past three years he had tried to mentally prepare himself for what he would do should he ever meet Yuki again, but Yuki had never done this in his imagination. He never expected Yuki would leave! So he sat, staring at the door in shock long after the tears had stopped coming. This was how Tohma and Adella, Shuichi's roommate, found him two hours later.

--xXx--

Wow I'm so happy I finally figured out what I wanted to happen! I had about three different plot lines going on in my head. I tried to combine them but there was a major clash. Anyway, review please! Even if you don't review, thank for taking time to read it!

**-Crimson Tears**


	7. Second Chance

Ok I think this chapter is much better than my last chapter

Ok I think this chapter is much better than my last chapter. Thank you to kimchan884, mio32, Roni-chan, Kin Inu, obsession14-c, and lilgurlanima for reviewing! It means a lot to me!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Gravitation.**

--xXx--

"Riley!" Adella shouted, running over to the stunned singer. "Are you alright? What happened?"

"I-I don't know." Shuichi breathed quietly.

"Shindou-san, where is Eiri-san?"

Shuichi looked up at Tohma, his eyes void of all emotion, "He…left… I didn't think he would do that." Shuichi could feel tears start to burn his eyes again. Closing his eyes tightly, he turned his head away from Tohma.

"I think you are mistaken Shindou-san." When Shuichi did not respond, Tohma continued. "I don't know what you talked about with Eiri, but he searched for you for three years. You had more of an impact on him than I think even he realized."

"WHAT DOES IT MATTER?!" Shuichi shouted suddenly, standing up and glaring at Tohma. "If I really had that much of an influence on him then why would he give up so easily once he found me! That bastard doesn't care about me! He never has and he never will!"

Adella, who had been quietly sitting next to the singer, trying to comfort him, now stood up spoke. "Shu," she said softly, switching over to Shuichi's real name, "I know I haven't been a part of your life for very long, but I think I can say that giving this guy a second chance might not be such a bad idea."

Shuichi looked over at her, the ghost of a smile appearing briefly. "If I remember correctly, when I first told you about him you said if he ever came near me again you would tear him to pieces and make him wished he had never been born. What ever happened to that attitude?"

Adella laughed awkwardly, "Well…that was before I talked to Tohma about it."

"He always has had a way of manipulating others." Shuichi muttered, looking over at Tohma. "That reminds me, how did you two meet?"

"Pure coincidence actually, I bumped into Adella while looking for this place. When she heard who I was and why I was here, she showed me where it was." Tohma said smiling.

"Anyway, Adella and I should probably be going now."

"What? Where are you going?"

"Tohma said he would take me down to L.A. with him!" Adella said, excitement shining in her green eyes. " Shuichi, I might finally be able to get my dream job!"

Shuichi smiled at his friend; ever since he had known her she had always said she wanted to be a music video producer or director. There was no doubt she had talent, but without connections, that was a hard business to break into. "That's great 'Della! How long are you going to be gone?"

"Between 5-15 days, depending on how things go." Tohma answered. "We really must be going now. Shindou-san, please think about what we said earlier, Eiri-san is probably just as confused by his actions as you are."

"I might be willing to consider it, if it weren't for one problem: I'm not ready to go back to Japan just yet,"

"We never said you had to go back to Japan anytime soon."

"Bu-"

"Shindou-san do you really think he would come all this way just to give up after the first test? I can assure you that he is still here. What did you think I meant when I said you were mistaken?"

"…Can you tell me where?"

"I think you'll be able to figure it out." Tohma said smiling and causing Shuichi to roll his eyes in annoyance; trust Tohma Seguchi to be cryptic in a situation like this. "Adella, I'm going down to the car." And with that he left before Shuichi could say anything more.

"Bye Shu." Adella whispered, hugging him tightly. "Everything will work out, if you want it to. I'll call you when I get there, 'k."

Alone again, Shuichi lay down on the couch, lost in thought. He had no idea where to look for Yuki or if he even wanted to. Sighing, he got up, grabbed his coat and walked out the door thinking a walk in the nearby park might help him clear his head. Fate however, was not going to be allowing him a break anytime soon.

--xXx--

Shuichi wandered mindlessly along the paths he knew so well, staring mindlessly for a while at the ducklings swimming after their mother in the calm water. After thinking it over for a bit, Shuichi had decided that maybe giving Yuki a second chance wasn't such a bad idea; if he ever found him that is. Shuichi stopped walking and leaned against a nearby tree. _'Why does my life have to be so damn complicated all the time?'_ Looking around at the night scenery, Shuichi noticed a blonde haired man sitting on a park bench down at the waters edge smoking a cigarette. Shuichi's breath caught in his throat as recognized who it was. Shuichi hesitated for a moment before walking down the hill towards the figure on the bench. He paused for a second, eyeing the man a few feet a way from him who was staring up at the night sky, completely oblivious of Shuichi's presence. Briefly he considered turning around and ending everything then and there but something stopped him. Taking a deep breath, he made his presence known to Yuki.

"I thought you quite smoking." Shuichi muttered sitting down next to Yuki who blinked in surprise and glanced at Shuichi before returning his attention to the stars above.

"I did. Until today. Why are you here? I thought you hated me." Came the monotone reply.

"Well, I did come to talk to you but if you would rather I just left then that's fine with me." Shuichi said, enraged by Yuki's lack of interest. He stood up, ready to leave, when Yuki grabbed his wrist.

"I didn't mean it that way." Yuki whispered looking down at the ground. "I just wanted to know what possessed you to even contemplate talking to me again."

"Adella and Seguchi-san." Shuichi answered wryly, sitting down again. "They stopped by a few hours after you left and talked me into it."

"…Who's Adella?"

"Oh she's my girlfriend. We've been living together for the past three years."

Yuki looked over at Shuichi, searching for any truth behind this comment. After a few seconds Yuki spoke. "I don't believe you."

"What, you don't want to think that you might actually have some competition, is that it." Shuichi said smirking.

"No. You're gay Shuichi."

At this Shuichi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how do you know for sure, I could be bi."

"No you're not."

Shuichi was starting to get annoyed with Yuki's confident answers, mainly because he was correct. "What the hell makes you so sure?"

Sensing Shuichi's annoyance, Yuki chose to give amore humble reply to this. "I guess I'm not sure. Maybe it's like you said, maybe I just don't want any competition."

"Right." Came Shuichi's rather unconvinced response. "Well whatever. You're right, about her not being my girlfriend at least. Although she has been living with me." After a brief silence Shuichi spoke again. "Yuki, I've decided to give you a second chance." He said, reaching over, taking the cigarette out of Yuki's mouth and putting it out with his foot. "I will give you seven days to try and change my mind and convince me fall in love with you again."

"Brat. You know how much I hate deadlines." Yuki said, standing up and then turning to pull Shuichi up as well.

"Oh. So you don't even want to try." Shuichi said sharply.

"I never said that." Yuki murmured softly, taking a step closer and slipping his arm around Shuichi's waist. "You know Shuichi, I don't think I'll have any problem getting you to fall in love with me." Shuichi had no time to react before Yuki's lips covered his own.

--xXx--

Hopefully you guys liked this chapter, if you did, you should tell me in a review (hint). Anyway, please review because it makes me happy and I write better when I am happy.

-Crimson Tears


	8. Breakfast

Shuichi lay awake in bed

Shuichi lay awake in bed. He stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows twist to form images. Yuki had some fucking nerve to kiss him like that.

--Flashback--

Shuichi stood, glaring at Yuki "Oh, so you don't even want to try." Here he was, giving Yuki another chance and he was complaining! Bastard.

"I never said that." Shuichi froze as Yuki slowly advanced toward him. He tried to tell his body to move but nothing reacted. He vaguely felt Yuki's arm slide around his waist, pulling him closer. And then, before he knew it, Yuki was kissing him! Shuichi stood completely motionless in shock. He finally regained control of his body and shoved Yuki away from him, glowering acrimoniously.

"Just what do you think you're doing? I told you I would let you stay for a week, I never said you could kiss me whenever you felt like it." Shuichi half shouted in outrage.

"But you never said I couldn't either." Yuki said, smirking at him. He quickly stopped when he noticed the glare Shuichi was giving him. If looks could kill…

"I knew I would regret doing this." Shuichi muttered quietly so Yuki wouldn't hear. "Come on, let's go get your stuff." He said tersely to Yuki. "But I'm warning you now Yuki Eiri, if you try anything like that again over the course of this week, then I won't even consider _looking_ at you ever again." That said, he turned and stalked off into darkness.

--End flashback--

Shuichi rolled over and punched his pillow in aggravation. _'If this guy thought that all he had to do was come over here and kiss me and I'd just give in, he's got another thing coming.'_ He felt like screaming until all this frustration was gone but didn't in fear of waking Yuki who was sleeping right across the hall in Adella's room. Shuichi hated this. He hated Yuki for messing with him in such a manner. He hated himself for not seeing it coming and stopping it. But mostly he hated himself for the way his heart felt during that brief moment in which he lost control. He had felt so…happy, happier than he had felt in a long time. Perhaps Yuki was right, perhaps it would be easy for him to make Shuichi fall in love again. At this thought Shuichi shook his head, vowing not to give Yuki an easy victory. Rolling over Shuichi finally managed to fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.

--The next morning--

Yuki awoke to the sound of someone moving around the house. Rolling out of bed, he stumbled into the kitchen, still groggy from sleep.

"What the fuck are you doing up this early, br- Shuichi?"

"8 o'clock is not early, Yuki. And, not that it's any of your business, I have to be somewhere in half an hour, so I'll see you later."

"Hold up. Where are you going? You don't have work for the next two weeks."

"If you really have to know, I'm going out to breakfast with Brandon and Sean. It's a tradition."

"…I'm going with you." Yuki stated, now fully awake. He turned and walked back into Adella's room to change.

"Hey! Wait a minute! You can't just invite yourself places! That's rude!"

"Is it so wrong of me to want to meet my boyfriends new friends." Yuki called from the other side of the door.

"_Ex_-boyfriend actually, and that still doesn't give you any right to invite yourself."

"You know, if you think about _shu-chan_, we never officially broke up." Yuki said coming out fully dressed. "And anyway, you can just think of it as pay-back for you inviting yourself to live with me."

At this Shuichi crossed his arms and looked straight at him, glaring vehemently. "Um I think three years of not speaking to each other or seeing each other counts as breaking up. Either way Yuki, I can't let you come. Unless, of course, you have a death wish."

"What makes you say this?" Yuki inquired warily.

"Well, um, my friends don't exactly like you very much."

"They don't like me? They don't even know me!"

Shuichi shrugged nonchalantly. "I told them some stuff about you. Of course I told them all this back when I first came here and I was very upset at the time so my stories were probably a little exaggerated. Which is why I should go and explain the situation before they meet you."

"Shuichi, what exactly did you say to them?"

"Ok, I should be going now!" Shuichi announced, pretending not to hear.

"Shuichi!" Yuki yelled, but the door had already slammed shut.

As soon as Shuichi left, Yuki collapsed onto the couch. This might be harder than he originally thought. Shuichi obviously was not willing to just give in. Yuki closed his eyes, maybe now would be a good time to look back and figure out precisely what he had done wrong.

--xXx--

Shuichi drove towards the restaurant he had promised to meet his friends at. Truth be told it probably wouldn't have mattered too much if Yuki had come, but Shuichi desperately needed to talk to his friends. Not only that, he wanted to prove that he was stronger than he had been three years ago.

--xXx--

"Riley! Your late."

Shuichi slid into the booth, across the table from Brandon. "Sorry guys, I had a little trouble leaving, Yuki wanted to come with me to meet you guys." He said smiling apologetically.

"Wait, Yuki is still here?" Sean inquired uneasily.

"Um…yeah…I promised that I would give him a second chance for one week."

"A second chance?" Brandon asked, staring in disbelief. "Riley that man treated you like dirt!"

"Actually, that's not entirely true. You see, not all that stuff I told you back then was very accurate. Yuki has his good points too."

"Such as…" Sean prompted.

"He…defended me when I was…attacked." Gang-rapped seemed like too cruel of a term to be used.

"What do you mean attacked?" Sean asked. this was the first time Shuichi had ever mentioned being attacked by Aizawa, there was still a lot about him that neither Sean nor Brandon knew.

"It's nothing important." Shuichi lied, brushing it off lightly, this was the first time he had every mentioned anything related to the Aizawa incident since it wasn't something he wanted to tell anyone. "Anyway my point is that Yuki really isn't as bad as I originally made him out to be."

"Riley-" Sean began.

"You can call me Shuichi now. It doesn't really matter any more."

"Ok, Shuichi. I'll trust your judgment on this for now and leave him alone. But if he hurts you in anyway I can't promise his safety."

"No offense Sean, but I think he could take you." Shuichi blurted out before he had time to think.

"What does that mean?" Sean asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Nothing really, he can be pretty intimidating sometimes though. Anyway thanks for the gesture." Shuichi covered quickly, hoping Sean didn't ask more. Lucky for him Brandon finally spoke up.

"I'm with Sean on this. I trust you but I don't trust him one bit." Brandon concurred. After a moments pause he continued. "Hey Ry- I mean, Shuichi, when will we meet him?"

"Soon." Shuichi promised, grinning happily at how calmly his friends had accepted this turn of events. "You can come over for dinner sometime. Tonight if you want to."

--xXx--

Well this chapter is kind of short. I promise it will be longer next time and I will update sooner as well. Ok so, I had another version of this chapter in which Yuki accompanies Shuichi to breakfast. Do you want me to keep it this way or change it?

**-Crimson Tears**


	9. Alternate Breakfast Chapter

Ok this is not the next chapter, this is the original chapter I had before I decided to re-write it

Ok this is not the next chapter, this is the original chapter I had before I decided to re-write it. I'm posting it for anyone who wants to read it. You guys have to tell me which direction you want me to go with this. Or I could do both. But I'm warning you, that might make updates take longer.

Thank you for all the reviews! **Lilgurlanima, darkmetalangel of destruction, sexyryu28, mistywaterfall, shipet100, kyohana, loveless19, Blueporing90:** It's never to late to review a story! **Mio32, gyoro and ururun, secret25, and minibloodymurder**:aww thanks! I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint you

You guys should keep reviewing because it makes me happy and makes me write better. :D

**Disclaimer:** I only own the plot line, unless someone else does and I just don't know about it.

--xXx--

Shuichi lay awake in bed. He stared up at the ceiling, watching the shadows twist to form images. Yuki had some fucking nerve to kiss him like that.

--Flashback--

Shuichi stood, glaring at Yuki "Oh, so you don't even want to try." Here he was, giving

Yuki another chance and he was complaining! Bastard.

"I never said that." Shuichi froze as Yuki slowly advanced toward him. He tried to tell his body to move but nothing reacted. He vaguely felt Yuki's arm slide around his waist, pulling him closer. And then, before he knew it, Yuki was kissing him! Shuichi stood completely motionless in shock. He finally regained control of his body and shoved Yuki away from him, glowering acrimoniously.

"Just what do you think you're doing? I told you I would let you stay for a week, I never said you could kiss me whenever you felt like it." Shuichi half shouted in outrage.

"But you never said I couldn't either." Yuki said, smirking at him. He quickly stopped when he noticed the glare Shuichi was giving him. If looks could kill…

"I knew I would regret doing this." Shuichi muttered quietly so Yuki wouldn't hear.

"Come on, let's go get your stuff." He said tersely to Yuki. "But I'm warning you now

Yuki Eiri, if you try anything like that again over the course of this week, then I won't even consider _looking_ at you ever again." That said, he turned and stalked off into the darkness.

--End flashback--

Shuichi rolled over and punched his pillow in aggravtaion. _'If this guy thought that all he had to do was come over here and kiss me and I'd just give in, he's got another thing coming.'_ He felt like screaming until all this frustration was gone but didn't in fear of waking Yuki who was sleeping right across the hall in Adella's room. Eventually,

Shuichi fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

--The next morning--

Yuki awoke to the sound of someone moving around the house. Rolling out of bed, he stumbled into the kitchen, still groggy from sleep.

"What the fuck are you doing up this early, br- Shuichi?"

"8 o'clock is not early, Yuki. And, not that it's any of your business, I have to be somewhere in half an hour, so I'll see you later."

"Hold up. Where are you going? You don't have work for the next two weeks."

"If you really have to know, I'm going out to breakfast with Brandon and Sean. It's a tradition."

"…I'm going with you." Yuki stated, now fully awake. He turned and walked back into Adella's room to change.

"Hey! Wait a minute! You can't just invite yourself places! That's rude!"

"Is it so wrong of me to want to meet my boyfriends new friends." Yuki called from the other side of the door.

"_Ex_-boyfriend actually, and that still does _not _give you any right to invite yourself!"

"You know, if you think about _shu-chan_, we never officially broke up." Yuki said coming out fully dressed and ready to go. "And anyway, you can just think of it as pay-back for you inviting yourself to live with me."

At this Shuichi crossed his arms and looked straight at him, glaring vehemently. "Um I think three years of not speaking to each other or seeing each other counts as breaking up." After a few seconds pause he sighed, maybe introducing Yuki to his friends wasn't such a bad idea, at least it interesting, that was certain. Shuichi knew there was no way Sean would welcome Shuichi's ex with open arms. Brandon might be a little more accepting, but not Sean. Yes, this would definitely be interesting. "Fine. You can come. But you have to promise me you won't do or say anything out of order."

Yuki stared at Shuichi momentarily before speaking. "Alright. I promise _I_ won't do anything. But if they-"

"Even if they do say something I don't want to hear any of your rude comments. If you do I swear I'll-"

"You'll what? Kick me out? In case you've forgotten, Shuichi, you promised to let me stay here for a whole week no matter what. You wouldn't go back on your word, would you?"

"You know what Yuki, at the rate you're going I probably won't even want to _look_ at you once this week is done!"

"Wow. And you say I have rude comments."

"Yuki!" Shuichi shouted, now thoroughly pissed off. "Do you want to come to breakfast or not! I'm only going to let you come if you promise you absolutely will not offend my friends!"

"Alright! Fine! You win! Now lets go!"

Shuichi couldn't help but wonder whether or not he had made the right decision, something he had started doing increasingly often in recent days. Shuichi grabbed his coat to keep warm against the bitter cold of fall, checked to make sure his keys were still in his pocket, and followed Yuki out the door.

--xXx--

"Riley! Over here!" Sean called out when he saw his friend walk into the restaurant.

"You, my friend, are late." He said as Shuichi ran up to the table.

"Sorry guys. We-" He said

"Don't worry about Ry. We already ordered for-…Hey Riley?"

"Yeah?"

"Who's this?"

Shuichi followed Brandon and Sean's curious gazes to where Yuki was standing behind him. _'Oops, I totally forgot he was here.'_ "Brandon, Sean, I would like you to meet Yuki Eiri."

There were a few minutes of silence as the information sank in. Brandon tilted his head to the left and gave Yuki a piercing stare. Finally he spoke. "…He doesn't look very Asian to me."

Three heads turned to stare straight Brandon. Shuichi wasn't sure if he should be annoyed at his friends comment or laugh.

"God Brandon, You're such an idiot." Sean said, starting to laugh.

"Sorry! I was just making an observation!" By this time Shuichi was smiling as well and he and Yuki had seated themselves across from Brandon and Sean. Brandon _hated_ awkward situations; he would do whatever he could to make them less uncomfortable. More often then not this meant making really stupid, and at times rude, comments.

Yuki stared at this idiot that was Shuichi's friend. _'Maybe I should have stayed at the apartment.'_ "Actually I am full Japanese. Anyway, how did you guys meet Shuichi? Did he jump in front of your car too?"

"Hey! That's not how we met! And I prefer to be called 'Riley' in public."

"I am not calling you 'Riley'! That's ridiculous! Besides, there really isn't a reason for you to hide your identity anymore, is there."

"I don't care! But if the press hears you call me that, then there will be questions. I don't want to have to answer any questions about that!"

"Um guys…" Brandon cut in.

"What." Shuichi asked shortly, looking at Brandon who pointed over at the waitress holding a plate of food. "Oh. Sorry." He apologized and took the plate from her.

"Hey Yuki did you want to order anything? We didn't know you were coming or else we would have gotten you something too."

"No. I'm fine. I don't usually eat breakfast."

"Oh. Ok. So how long are you here for?" Brandon asked, attempting for a pleasant conversation.

"I think a better question is why are you here." Sean hissed bitterly.

"Sean, don't-" Shuichi warned softly.

"How can you be so nice to him? You and Brandon both! He is the reason you had to come over here and change your whole identity in the first place! How can you just accept him so easily? Do you _want_ to go back to your old life?"

"Sean please, just stop. I don't want to talk about this right now."

"Just answer the question then."

"Shut up." Yuki said in a soft but icy tone that put Sean in a cold sweat. "Quit taking your hate for me out on Shuichi. Can't you see you're doing more harm than good?"

"How is telling him he's making a big mistake hurting him?"

"Shuichi made a choice and you have no right to interfere with that. As his best friend you are supposed to support him no matter what. All you've done is cut him down."

"That's enough!" Shuichi shouted, gaining the attention of his three companions. "Honestly. And people say I'm immature."

"Shuichi I was only defending you." Yuki pointed out, switching to Japanese.

"I don't need help Yuki."

"Then why didn't you say anything?"

Shuichi shrugged, "I was curious as to where the conversation would end up I guess." Shuichi stood up and turned to his friends who were having their own whispered discussion on the other side of the table. "Hey!" Shuichi said loud enough to get their attention, "Yuki and I are going to leave."

"Wai-"

"Alright Shu, we'll see you later." Brandon said quickly, covering Sean's mouth with his hand, only removing it once Shuichi and Yuki had left the building.

"What the hell did you do that for?!"

"I think that was enough arguing for one day, Sean."

Sean just glared at the spot he had last seen Yuki's head, wishing he could blow it off and be done with it. "That bastard. He doesn't deserve Shuichi. He doesn't even deserve to breathe the same air as him."

"Sean please, this is Shuichi's decision, let's just see how it plays out for a while."

--xXx--

Um yeah. So this was the alternate chapter. It was supposed to be a lot happier then it turned about. Oh well. Ok so tell me if you liked:

**Yuki not going to breakfast**

**OR**

**Yuki going to breakfast**

**Thank you!**

**-Crimson Tears**


	10. Dinner

This is the dinner chapter, I thought it wasn't fair if you guys couldn't compare both meeting scenes

**This is the dinner chapter, I thought it wasn't fair if you guys couldn't compare both meeting scenes. This wasn't as dramatic as I wanted it to be but whatever. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I really appreciate you guys giving me your opinions on what I should do. Also sorry for any spelling mistakes, it's like midnight right now and I'm kinda tired.**

**I would also like to say that in the last chapter, the only reason Shuichi didn't defend himself against Sean was because he was really shocked. Sean had basically been like Hiro to him, he has supported him and helped him with almost everything. Shuichi didn't know how to react to Seans comments. That and I wanted Yuki to make a little progress it getting Shu to like him again.**

**Anyway…Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation.**

--xXx--

Yuki sat up on the couch. It had been over an hour and he still could not remember what exactly he had done to make Shuichi so upset that night; upset enough to leave anyway. He could recall kicking him out, but that couldn't have been it. Yuki did that all the time. No, there must have been something else. …But what was it? _'Oh well, I guess I'll just figure it out later.'_ Yuki played around with the idea of calling a family member or friend back in Japan and letting them know he was alright but quickly vetoed it; he did not want other people getting involved in his business.

Since Shuichi probably wouldn't be home for at least an hour, Yuki decided to... investigate the situation a little. He wandered down the hall and into Shuichi's room. The walls were covered with band posters. Surprisingly, there were no posters of Nittle Grasper, Bad Luck, or any other Japanese bands; all of them were American. Looking around at the rest of the décor, Yuki noticed there were no Japanese objects at all. _'He really did try to cut his past out of his life.'_ Yuki thought sadly. Walking over to the dresser, he pulled open the top drawer and began to rummage through it. When Shuichi had still been living with Yuki, he had kept a box of treasures in his top dresser drawer. Sure enough, in the far back corner there was a rather heavy, black box. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Yuki pulled it out. He knew it was wrong, even low, for him to be snooping around like this, but he had to find out if he still had a chance to be with Shuichi or if Shuichi wanted to shut him out completely. Carefully lifting the lid off, he looked in to see plane tickets and various concert tickets. Beneath the mass amount of tickets was something larger and solid. He removed the tickets and nearly dropped the box in shock. Underneath was a Japanese copy of the book he had been writing when Shuichi had left. Yuki closed the box and placed it back in the original position. He then walked out to lie on the couch again, smiling. Maybe there was hope after all.

--xXx--

Shuichi returned home to find Yuki fast asleep on the couch. He debated waking him but decided against it; Brandon and Sean were coming tonight and it would be better to have a well-rested Yuki than an irritable one. Besides, Shuichi had songs to write.

--xXx--

Yuki woke to the pleasant sound of singing. He glanced at a clock on the wall and noted it was 1:30; he had slept for 3 hours. This trip was taking more out of him than he thought.

He returned his attention to the singing and followed the voice to a closed door at the end of the hallway. Quietly pushing it open, he stepped inside and took a look around. Shuichi sat, singing into a microphone that, as far as Yuki could tell, was connected to a computer that was placed on a nearby desk. He leaned against the wall, waiting for Shuichi to finish his song.

_I was nervous from the start that our muscles might tear us apart_

_From the words that carve our lives to the words that take us by surprise_

_From the sounds that disappear to the changes we began to fear_

_One day I'll fail to breathe and all you'll have are memories_

He had to admit; the brats' song writing had improved, assuming he still wrote his own songs of course. …Maybe that had been it, maybe he had said something more hurtful than usual to Shuichi about his music.

"Yuki? Are you listening to me? Are you even awake or are you sleep walking?"

"What the hell are you talking about."

"You've been staring off into space for a while now."

"Oh."

"How long were you even standing there?"

"Not very long. I just heard the end of your song. Why?"

"No reason. Anyway, what I was trying to tell you earlier while you were ignoring me is that we are having guests over for dinner tonight."

"Let me guess, your two little friends want to meet me so they can come and give me a bunch of bullshit threats about what's going to happen to me if I hurt you. I feel like I've been through this before."

"If I recall correctly, you were the one who wanted to meet them this morning."

"Yeah whatever. When are the two idiots coming?"

"Don't call them that! Their names are Sean and Brandon and they are coming at 6:30."

"Who's cooking? Please don't tell me you."

"For your information I can cook very well now! I had Adella teach me some stuff." Shuichi replied in an offended tone. At the skeptical look on Yuki's face he glared, "Well it's good to know you still have so much confidence in me! I'm cooking and that's final!"

"Alright calm down. At least let me help."

--xXx--

Shuichi paced back and forth across the room. Never had he felt this worried in his whole life.

"Yuki you promise, you promise you won't say anything rude or inappropriate or anything like while they are here, right?"

"For the 50th time I promise I will not do or say anything to piss off your little friends!" Yuki nearly shouted in irritation. He didn't understand what Shuichi was so worried about. It's not like he said terrible things _all_ the time. He had just finished putting four plates of food on the table when there came a knock on the door. Shuichi froze, maybe having his friends meet Yuki wasn't such a good idea.

"Shuichi are you going to answer the door?"

Oh well. Too late. Shuichi ran over to the door and pulled it open. "Sorry guys, we just had to finish setting the table."

"Brandon, Sean this is Yuki Eiri. Yuki these are my friends, Brandon and Sean."

"Wow! This food looks amazing! Shuichi did you cook this?" Brandon exclaimed.

"Yes, well with Yuki's help."

"Really?" Brandon said, giving Yuki an impressed look. "Shuichi never told us you could cook."

"Yeah well from what I can figure out all he told you were overly exaggerated or entirely false bad qualities of mine."

"That's not true Yuki!" Shuichi chided indignantly, "I told them you had some nice qualities too."

"For example…" Yuki prompted.

"Well I told them…um…" Shuichi began, trying to remember anything nice he had said about Yuki.

"He said you defended him or something like that." Brandon supplied, eager to get the conversation over with and start eating.

"Ok then, let's eat." Shuichi said before Yuki could make any sort of comment; he was suddenly very keen for dinner to be over.

"Hey Shuichi," Sean began as they were sitting down at the table, "how's that new song coming?"

"I finished it!"

"Already? That was fast." Brandon said in astonishment. "Didn't you just start working on it yesterday or something?"

"Was this the song you were singing earlier?"

"Yes it is." Shuichi stated, giving Yuki a look. "Let me guess, zero talent, right?"

"Actually, it's not that bad."

"Not that bad but…" Shuichi trailed off, waiting for Yuki to fill in with some negative comment about it.

"You know it isn't entirely impossible for me to say something nice."

"No it's not. It's just rare."

"So Yuki!" Brandon interrupted before the two could argue anymore, "Where did you learn to speak English so well? Your accent is very good."

"Didn't Shuichi tell you? I spent most of my childhood living in New York away from my family."

"Why would I tell them about that?"

"I don't know. Why would you leave without any warning."

"Can we not talk about this right now."

"I was just pointing out that you do things without any solid reason."

Shuichi glared at Yuki, "You think I don't have a reason for leaving?"

"I'm sure you have a reason, just not a very good one."

"Oh I see," Shuichi said, "you're just trying to get me to tell you what it is, aren't you? You still haven't figured it out yet. "

Yuki looked at Shuichi, his cool demeanor broken briefly by a fleeting look astonishment passing across his face before it was replaced with a smirk. "Hey, it was worth a try."

"What the hell are you even doing here?" Sean asked, speaking to Yuki for the first time that night. "If you don't even know what you did wrong how are you going to fix it?"

"Even if I can't remember what exactly I did, it's worth it to try and fix things anyway. Besides, I'm sure I'll figure it out sometime, that or Shuichi will give in and tell me."

Shuichi put his knife a fork down and leaned back in his chair, smiling at Yuki in a way that vaguely reminded Yuki of Tohma. "Wow Yuki, suddenly the end of this week can't come quick enough."

Almost immediately Yuki quieted down. "Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." He muttered, almost inaudibly.

"Shuichi how can you seriously put up with this?" Sean, who had until then been trying to hold his anger in, asked incredulously, "Are you just going to let this guy come back after three years and ruin your life again?!"

"Sean I thought you said you were going to trust me on this!"

"I know I did, but after meeting him I take it back. I really think you're making a mistake here!"

"Sean please, at least wait out this week and see what happens. Anyway, I think I can make my own decisions now."

"Yes you can Shuichi, but that doesn't mean it's the right decision." Sean finished sadly.

"Well, that's not for you to decide, now is it?" Shuichi said in a manner that made it clear the conversation was over.

"Come on Sean," Brandon implored softly, "just relax and enjoy the meal." But Sean just shook his head.

"Sorry, I've lost my appetite." Sean stated, standing up. "Brandon, let's go." He didn't bother saying anything more to Shuichi, he simply walked out the door.

Brandon on the other hand quietly apologized to Shuichi and said he would be in touch before following his friend.

The instant the door closed behind them Shuichi fell back into his chair, his eyes staring blankly at the plate in front of him.

"Shuichi? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. It's nothing."

Yuki accepted this for the sole reason of not wanting to upset the younger man any more than he already was. "I'll take care of dishes so why don't you just go to bed; you look like you need a lot of rest."

Shuichi nodded numbly and slowly made his way to his room while Yuki set about cleaning up.

--xXx--

Yeah I don't know how much I like this, I think the other one was more fun, but it's up to you guys. So review and tell me what you think!

**-Crimson Tears**


	11. Apologizing

--10:30 the next morning--

This chapter is written so it can follow either the dinner chapter or the breakfast chapter, whichever you prefer. I have decided to combine the two plot lines. You guys were pretty well split over which way I should go. Thanks to all my lovely reviewers! You guys are the best! One of these days I will get around to answering you guys individually like other people do, but that will have to wait until I stop writing this late at night.lol.

Disclaimer: I don't own tear

--10:30 the next morning--

Yuki was, to say the least, worried about Shuichi. He had locked himself up in his room and refused to come out. Yuki sighed and lay back on the couch, leaving his laptop in Japan didn't seem like such a great idea anymore. He was almost asleep when he heard a door open.

Shuichi stepped out of his room fully dressed and keys in hand. "I'm going out." He said, making for the door. His progress was stopped by a hand on his shoulder,

"Where are you going?" Yuki asked even though he knew it was a pretty rhetorical question.

"Not that it's really any of your business, I need to go talk to Sean."

"Shuichi I don't trust that guy. Let me go with you, just in case." Yuki implored.

"No. I can take of myself, Yuki. Besides you don't even know Sean, I do. He's a good guy."

From the look in Shuichi's eyes, Yuki could see there was no way Shuichi would allow him to come this time. Sighing resignedly he removed his hand. "Alright, I understand. But at least leave me some way of contacting you."

"Yuki I'll be fine. I don't see what you're so worked up about! If you're really that worried, then here is Brandon's cell number. He can help you find me." Shuichi said, scribbling a number down onto a piece of paper and moving towards the door again.

"Why can't I just have your number?"

"Because I don't want you calling me while I'm trying to work things out with Sean. Plus it makes me feel better if you have to talk to Brandon first. And besides, if this week doesn't work out I don't want you to have my cell phone number."

"Why would that matter? I already know where you live."

"…Touché. I'm gonna go now."

--xXx—

Sean sat on his couch with his head in his hands. He realized now how stupid it was for him to question his friend like that, and how stupid it was for him to leave. He had definitely not been thinking clearly, but when it came to Shuichi he never did. Ever since that day Shuichi had revealed his past to Sean and Brandon, Sean had felt an overpowering drive to protect Shuichi. He did not want to see someone as sweet as Shuichi get hurt again. But he could see now that he was wrong for trying to interfere with this particular situation; Shuichi was the only one who could make the decisions now. Sean had no right to involve himself in this, no matter how against it he was. Making up his mind to go visit Shuichi and apologize, Sean stood up and walked out his door. He was so caught up in thinking about what he would say to Shuichi that he didn't even notice when he passed Shuichi going the opposite way. And vice versa.

--xXx--

Shuichi pulled into the parking lot of Sean's apartment building, he noticed his car wasn't parked where it usually was, which was strange. _'Maybe he went to visit Brandon.'_ Shuichi thought. But that didn't seem likely; Sean preferred to be alone when he needed to calm down and relax. Nonetheless, Shuichi walked up to Sean's door and knocked on it, praying Sean was home and no longer upset.

--xXx--

Sean pulled into a parking space and stepped out of his car. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't notice that Shuichi's car was missing. He entered the elevator and pushed the button for the top floor.

--xXx--

Shuichi pulled out his cell phone and dialed Brandon's number.

"Hey, what's up Shu?"

"Hey Brandon, is Sean there?"

"Sorry, no."

"Do you know where he is?"

"Nope. I haven't seen him since last night. Why?"

"I wanted to talk to him and make sure he wasn't still mad at me."

"Why don't you just call him and find out where he is?"

"I would rather just talk to him face to face."

"Yeah…I could call him for you and find out where he is."

"Ok! That would be great!"

"I'll call you back in five."

--xXx--

Sean stared at the door in front of him. '_Hopefully Yuki doesn't answer the door_._'_ Sean thought. Right as he was about to knock, his cell phone went off. Glancing at it, he saw it was Brandon and turned it off. "Sorry Brandon, now's not a good time." He muttered before knocking on the door.

--xXx--

"Shuichi?"

"Yeah? Did you find out where he is?"

"Umm no, he isn't answering his phone."

"…Oh. Well maybe he just went to the grocery store and left his phone in his apartment. …Or something like that."

"I doubt it. Shuichi he felt terrible about storming out like that yesterday. He wouldn't even talk to me on the drive home. I don't think he would be grocery shopping right now."

"Well then where do you think he is?"

"Honestly, I wouldn't think it unlikely for him to be at your place right now looking for you."

"Then, that would mean… FUCK! I have to go." Sean and Yuki alone was probably not the best mix. He jumped in his car sped off, anxious to get home before Sean and Yuki killed each other.

--xXx--

Sean knocked on the door for the third time. Maybe Shuichi was gone. As his hand was about to hit the wood again, the door was yanked open.

"So you decided not to-" Yuki broke off, staring at Sean in a surprised manner before switching to a death glare. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see Shuichi, where is he?"

"He isn't here right now." Yuki said coolly, moving to close the door. Sean's hand stopped it.

"I don't believe you." Sean said, pushing past Yuki. "Shuichi!?" He shouted into the apartment.

"I already told you he's not here."

"Then where is he?"

"He went to talk to you. Although I don't know why he would want to."

Sean, who had been about to leave, turned around to face Yuki. He knew he had promised he wouldn't interfere anymore, but hey! This guy was a jerk and if Shuichi wasn't here… "Why the hell are you here?! Why did you have to come back into his life, huh? Can't you see that Shuichi is doing fine without you?"

"I have my reasons for coming here, none of them concern you."

"As his best friend, I think they do! Honestly! What is this to you?! By the way you act, you would think it was some sort of game!"

Yuki's eyes widened in shock. _What is this to you? 'What exactly am I to you? I want the truth!' 'You interrupted my work for this? Can't we talk about this later or something? I have a deadline to meet.'_ That was is. That had to have been it. Shuichi had been trying to talk to him about this and Yuki had coldly just brushed him off. There more Yuki thought about it, the more he was sure that was what caused Shuichi to leave. Come to think of it, that hadn't even been the first time Shuichi had brought up that particular topic of conversation, and each time Yuki had ignored him. Yuki turned away from this new revelation and back to Sean. Glancing past him to the door, Yuki did a double take when he saw Shuichi standing there, panting, with a worried expression plastered onto his face.

"…And now you're ignoring me! You really are a jerk."

"Shuichi's home." Yuki said as he grabbed his coat and walked out the door. "Hey brat I'm going to the park. I think your 'friend' would prefer to talk to you in private."

Shuichi was so out of breath he didn't even object to the "brat" comment, he just nodded and walked into the flat.

--xXx--

Yuki stared up at the cloudy sky. It had started to rain about 45 minutes ago. At first there had only been a small spattering of rain but now it was coming down in heavy sheets of water. An hour was enough time for the two to talk things over, right? Besides, this storm was really starting to pick up.

--xXx--

Well this storm might cause some problems, or maybe it will do the opposite. But I'll only post the next chapter if you guys review. - I also enabled anonymous reviews as well. I hope you enjoyed it!

**Love**

**CT**


	12. The Blackout

Yuki opened the door, water dripping off of him and onto the floor

Thank you my dear reviewers! I love you guys!

A lot of people have been asking about Sean's feelings toward Shuichi. I'm sorry but I can't say anything about that right now. I promise you will find out later.

**Warning:** This chapter and a few of the next chapter **may contain** **fluff** and an **OOC Yuki**. But I promise there will be more **drama** near the end!

**Disclaimer: **Same as last chapter.

--xXx--

Yuki opened the door, water dripping off of him and onto the floor. The downpour of rain had drenched his hair and clothes all the way through. What had started as an innocent rainstorm soon escalated into a full-blown thunderstorm complete with lightning and hurricane-worthy winds. He could hear the shower going in the bathroom so he walked over to the cupboard where he knew the extra towels were kept and pulled one out so as to dry his hair. After drying off and changing, he moved back into the living work where he proceeded to work on a little project he had started on the flight from Japan to Seattle. He didn't get very far. The lights flickered twice and went out. There was a brief moment of utter silence before Yuki heard the distinct sound of someone falling in the shower.

Standing up, he carefully felt his way over to the bathroom door since his eyes had not yet adjusted to the darkness. "Hey Shuichi are you alright?" There was no reply but the sound of the shower being turned off confirmed that Shuichi was at least still conscious.

About a minute Shuichi emerged dressed in his pajama pants and a tee shirt. By now Yuki's eyes had attuned to the lack of light and there was just enough moonlight to see a dark liquid running down the right side of Shuichi's face. Yuki couldn't help but smile a little, falling in the shower was such a Shuichi thing to do. Grabbing his towel, Yuki wiped away the blood, doing his best not to hurt Shuichi. "Only you, Shuichi, only you." He said, brushing back the younger man's hair so he could get a better look at the damage. "Did the blackout startle you that much?" He asked as he led Shuichi over to the couch.

Shuichi started to shake his head but quickly stopped at the pain the motion caused. "No. But the cold water did." He muttered, glancing up at Yuki and feeling very embarrassed. Shuichi could have sworn he saw a smile cross Yuki's face, however the lack of light made it hard to tell.

"Stay here. I'll get some ice for your head."

Shuichi didn't bother arguing; his head was in too much pain to try and do otherwise anyway. Yuki soon returned with an ice pack wrapped in a slightly damp towel. He sat down next to Shuichi and pressed the ice against his cut. Shuichi flinched and tried to pull away but Yuki held his head still and kept the ice on it. Once he was certain Shuichi would stay still, he relaxed his grip and began stroking Shuichi's feathery hair in a soothing motion. The two stayed like that for a while, sitting and listening to the rain crash against the roof and windows.

"Hey Yuki…"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you. For taking care of me."

Yuki briefly smiled softly at the younger man before his expression turned into a more serious one. "…Shuichi?"

"What is it?"

"I…I'm…"

Shuichi turned to look at Yuki; it wasn't very often one could see a writer of his caliber struggle for words. "What's wrong?"

"Never mind." Yuki muttered, thrusting the ice pack into Shuichi's hands and abruptly standing up. "Do you have any candles somewhere?"

Shuichi nodded, stunned and confused by Yuki's actions. "Yeah…Check Adella's room; I think she has a few."

Yuki didn't say anything; he just disappeared into the darkened hallway and returned a few minutes later with several candles that he quickly lit with a box of matches he had also found.

"Yuki?"

"What."

"Can you do me a favor?' Shuichi asked sweetly, pretending to forget the weird occurrence that had happened earlier.

"Depends on what it is." Yuki responded distractedly as he set up the candles.

"Can you bring the mattress on my bed into this room please?"

At this Yuki stopped and looked over at Shuichi with a "what-the-fuck?" expression on his face. "Why?"

"Because this room stays the warmest and it has the best view for watching the city and the storm! Sean and Brandon and I do it all the time when they come over."

"Fine." Yuki complied, ignoring the comment about Sean and Brandon spending the night with Shuichi and proceeded to drag out the mattress and set it up to Shuichi's taste.

Shuichi smiled with satisfaction as he snuggled down under the warm protection of his down comforter. He loved the feeling of being safe and warm while watching a storm rage on outside. He was also incredibly glad Yuki was here; having another person around made the situation a lot less scary. Speaking of Yuki… Shuichi twisted his head around, searching for the blonde novelist. "Yuki?"

"What do you need now?" An exasperated voice asked from the direction of the kitchen.

"Well I was just going to ask if you wanted to watch the storm with me but I guess if you don't want to then that's fine." Shuichi stated in an offended tone.

Yuki grimaced. Somehow, he always managed to screw things up. He really didn't mean to, he just did. Like a moment ago, he hadn't meant to sound annoyed, but he had. _'Oh well,'_ Yuki thought wearily,_ 'I guess I can suck up a little bit.'_ Walking back into the main room, he smiled at the brown haired man. "I'm sorry Shu, I was putting your ice pack away and I hit my hand on the edge of the counter."

". . ." Shuichi gave Yuki an incredulous look. "Are you sure it wasn't your head that you hit?" He asked, half serious, but moved over anyway to make room.

"Wait a second," Shuichi said as Yuki wrapped his arms around the smaller body and pulled him closer. "I'm still holding the ice pack! You liar!" Indeed the ice pack was still in his hand from when Yuki had left the retrieve the candles.

Yuki couldn't help but to smirk. "I was wondering if you would notice."

"Well whatever." Shuichi murmured sleepily as he laid his head back against Yuki's chest and tossed the ice pack aside.

"You know, I was right."

"About what?" Shuichi mumbled.

" …Nothing."

Shuichi must have figured out what Yuki was talking about because he made one more comment before falling asleep. "Don't get cocky Yuki. I'm just letting you stay with me right now because you're warm and I'm cold. And I'm too tired and nice too be mean." The words had all slurred together from exhaustion but Yuki understood nonetheless.

"Don't worry Shu, I won't." He watched Shuichi sleep for a few minutes before kissing the top of his head and whispering one last thing. "I'm sorry Shuichi. I'm sorry for pushing you away. One day I promise I'll tell you anything and everything you want to hear._"_ He leaned over, careful not to awaken Shuichi, and blew out the candles, failing to notice the slight smile that had spread across Shuichi's face in the darkness. Yuki then leaned back, rested his head on the pillows and watched the storm unfold outside, it never once ceased or even let up. He lay there, entranced, until sleep finally claimed him.

--xXx--

I'm sorry. This chapter was awful. I'll make it up to you though, I promise.

So in case that last part went totally over your head, basically Shuichi pretended to fall asleep and was therefore able to hear Yuki's apology. How this will affect things…no one knows…not even me. Anyway please review! I always appreciate them!

Also you guys are more than welcome to email/pm me; it's easier for me to reply to you that way.

**Love,**

**-CT**


	13. The Blackout Part 2

Shuichi woke to the constant sound of rain beating against his windows

**Yay! New chapter! You guys are the best reviewers EVER! **

**Shipet100, buchouslvr, secret25, mio32, Gyoro and Ururun, Loveless19, X.xMeiko-sama.xX, DarkMetalAngel of Destruction-** Quick question, good interesting or bad interesting?**, RRW, MiniBloodyMurder-**I tried to make this longer but it's only like 500 words longer ,** lilgurlanima, PaulaLopez-**You're right, Sean will definitely be jealous**, Pombella4-**I know, you're right, but I need a few filler chapters**, lil mutt face grl, blueporing90-**I love your reviews XD

I decided the name of the band is going to be _Red Winter_ don't ask why, just the first thing that came to me at 3am

**Disclaimer:** Same as all the times before…

--xXx--

Shuichi woke to the constant sound of rain beating against his windows. Gazing out the large glass window Shuichi noted that the sky appeared almost as dark as it had been last night. The storm looked like it had no intention of stopping. Oh well, at least he was safe and inside. He smiled a snuggled closer to the warm body that was sleeping beside him. He couldn't believe it! Yuki had sincerely apologized for the way he had treated Shuichi all those years ago. He felt his heart soar at the very memory. He couldn't wait to tell Brandon and Sean; they would be so happy for him…right? Shuichi's smile slipped off his face and he opened his eyes. Sean didn't really seem to like Yuki, so how would he react? The little talk Sean and Shuichi had last night played through his mind.

--Flashback--

"Sean…I'm sorry about yesterday, I know you were just trying to protect me. But please let me stand on my own for once. I can handle this." Shuichi stated softly.

"Normally I would trust you completely on something like this. You know that, don't you? It's just that this time…"

"This time it's Yuki."

"It's just…I think you are giving him too much control in this situation. If he hurt you as badly as you claimed he did three years ago, then how can you accept him so easily?"

"Like you said, Sean, it's been three years. I have had time to heal. I think I could forgive him now."

"Forgive him and then what? Go back to Japan? What about us!"

"What do you mean 'us'?" Shuichi asked, still maintaining the quiet tone he had used since they started talking.

"I mean the band. Are you really willing to throw away everything Red Winter has worked so hard for? And what about our friendship? Are you just going to abandon us after we've helped you so much?"

"I would never do that and you know it!"

How, Shuichi? How can I be sure you won't leave us like you left everyone in Japan?"

"That was low Sean. You know I had a good reason for doing that."

"I'm sorry. It just kills me to think that the new life you managed to create these past three years was all for nothing."

"It wasn't all for nothing, Sean, I can promise you that. And I think I can safely say that I would never abandon either you or Brandon, ever!"

"I believe you Shu. I just hate seeing you with a man who doesn't deserve you. …I don't want to see you hurt again. People like him, they don't change Shuichi."

"They might. There is always a chance that they might."

Sean gave Shuichi a long look before smiling half-heartedly and hugging Shuichi tightly, "Always the optimist, huh Shuichi."

Shuichi smiled and returned his friends embrace. "You know it."

"Ok, well I had better get going. Brandon is probably in need of some company right now, you know how he gets in storms."

"Yeah."

"…Shuichi, I'm sorry for saying all these things, but I need to make sure you have at least some idea of what you're doing."

Shuichi smiled and hugged his friend tightly once more. "I know, Sean, and I'm glad you care that much."

Sean held Shuichi close, leaning down so he could whisper one last thing in his ear. _"Just remember I'll always be here for you, Shuichi."_

--End Flashback--

"Shuichi?"

Said person looked up, startled from the reverie. "Yuki? Are you awake?"

"Obviously." Yuki muttered angrily, upset at being awake this early in the morning. "It's freezing in here." Indeed the temperature had dropped drastically due to the power outage.

"Do you know what time it is Yuki?"

"Yeah…it's 8:40." He said, glancing down at his watch. "How's your head feeling?" He asked, adjusting his position so he could see the gash clearly. "It really doesn't look too bad now that I can see it in the light. There is only a thin cut. That bruise looks pretty painful though."

"It's fine actually, just a little sore." Shuichi said, unaware that he was smiling.

"That's good." Yuki's comment was followed by a few moments of slightly awkward silence.

"Hmm…I hope Brandon and Sean are alright. Maybe I should call them." Standing up, Shuichi dashed over to where he had left his cell phone, grabbed it, and sprinted back to the warmth of the bed, he snuggled into the covers, shivering. "You're right. It is freezing." Once he had warmed up again, he flipped open the cell phone and dialed in Brandon's number. A few seconds later he pulled it away from his ear. "…I have no service. How can I not have service? This is the middle of Seattle!"

"It's also the middle of a giant storm." Yuki remarked sarcastically. Upon seeing Shuichi's upset face, he switched to a more reassuring tone. "Calm down, I'm sure your little friends are fine. They're 20 years old! They can take care of themselves."

"…Yeah…" Shuichi muttered, unconvinced, "Hey! I have an idea! How about we drive over and visit them."

Yuki looked out the window and back and Shuichi. "Hell. No. It is _way_ too dangerous out there!"

Shuichi looked out the window. Yuki was definitely right. Trees and telephone poles and been blown over by the powerful winds last night; some had fallen all the way across the road. "Okay so maybe we won't."

"I think a more pending problem we have to deal with is heat and food. Everything you have here requires electricity to cook. Well, everything except the Pokey."

"This storm can't last too much longer, can it?"

"Probably not, but it might take while for us to get electricity back."

"Well we can just go stay somewhere else."

"Like where? I am not going to stay with your little friends."

"Why not? Do you have a problem with my friends?"

"…"

"Well?"

"We already decided it was too dangerous to drive anywhere, remember? How about we wait until the storm ends and see what happens then. Who knows, we could get power back in a few hours!"

--5 Hours Later--

"So much for the power being back on in a few hours." Shuichi said bitterly, bundled up in practically every article of clothing he owned.

"I never _promised_ it would be back on! I simply said that it _might._ Besides, it has lightened up a little bit. The wind stopped and it's not raining as hard anymore"

Shuichi just sniffed and went back to eating his salad; the one thing they had found that didn't require power to make.

A few minutes later, Yuki, who had been staring out the window, noticed something. "Hey Shuichi, come here."

"Why? I'm eating."

"Just come look."

Shuichi stood and walked over to where Yuki was. At first he couldn't figure out what it was that Yuki had been making a fuss about. Then he saw the clear blue color of sky peaking through the clouds near the horizon. "Finally! I thought this storm would never end!"

"Idiot. Storms can't last forever."

Shuichi glared over at Yuki. "I know that, I was only exaggerating. So, I'm going to go visit Brandon and Sean now."

"No you aren't. Not until they get these roads cleaned up. Death by live wire would be a pretty pathetic story to tell everyone."

"Fine, fine." Shuichi grumbled but smiled as he turned away, touched by how worried Yuki was over his safety. However, Shuichi couldn't help but wonder about what Sean had said, _"People like him, they don't change, Shuichi."_ He prayed Sean was wrong and that Yuki really had changed for him. After last nights secret confession, Shuichi strongly believed he had.

"Shuichi? What's wrong?" Yuki asked, waving a hand in front of Shuichi's concerned expression.

"What? Oh. Nothing. I'm fine."

"Do you do this often?"

"Do what?"

"Stare off into space like that. You were doing it this morning when I woke up as well."

"Oh. Sorry. That's only been happening recently."

Yuki raised an eyebrow at that. "What are you thinking about?"

"Nothing important." Shuichi said, shrugging his shoulders and causing Yuki to roll his eyes.

"Wow. That was such a teenage answer. How old are you again?"

"I'm twenty-"

"That was a rhetorical question, idiot."

"For the fifty-millionth time, don't call me an idiot!"

"…That was only the second time you've said anything about that."

"Whatever!" Shuichi exclaimed, irritated, "I'm going-" Shuichi stopped speaking as the lights around them flickered back on along with the heater. "Finally!"

"I'm going to shower," Yuki said, getting up and making his way over to the bathroom.

"Hey! What about me?"

"You can come too." Yuki said, teasingly running his fingers along Shuichi's jaw as he passed by.

Shuichi jerked his head away and glared. "No thanks. I told you last night Yuki, don't get cocky!"

Yuki just smirked and walked into the bathroom and closing the door, leaving a rather annoyed Shuichi behind.

Shuichi glared at the door intensely for a while before sighing and going to his room to change into something less warm. The apartment had heated up quite a bit and Shuichi was feeling uncomfortably hot. He came out wearing a long sleeve shirt and sweats. He pulled out his cellphone and glanced at it. 5:30. Time to make dinner. Pulling open a cupboard, he rummaged through it, looking for something that was easy to fix. Shuichi figured he and Yuki could eat quickly and then he could go visit Sean and Brandon, assuming the roads were clear. It seemed that they would be since he could see people already out there clearing the debris.

Shuichi had set some soup to cook on the stove by the time Yuki was out of the shower and was sitting on the couch observing the clean-up mission.

Yuki stepped out of the bathroom wearing a clean pair of pants and the towel draped over his head. Shuichi tried not to stare, but how could anyone not stare at something that beautiful? Yuki smirked at Shuichi's expression and opened his mouth to make some smart comment. He was stopped, however, by the sound of sizzling and the smell of something burning. "Idiot! What did you do now?" Yuki exclaimed as he ran into the kitchen. "I thought you said you could cook!"

"I can! I just made a mistake." Shuichi said indignantly, following closely behind Yuki to where the pot of soup had boiled over onto the burner.

Yuki quickly turned off the burner and set the soup aside before turning around to face Shuichi. He did not realize how close Shuichi was to him and ended up sending both of them toppling to the floor when he tried to take a step forward. At the exact moment the two hit the floor, the door to the apartment was thrown open.

"Shuichi?"

--xXx—

**A/N: This storm was based on a storm that hit my state last year. Read and review please!**

**Love,**

**CT**


	14. Chapter 14

Hey guys I'm sorry for not updating. I lost all inspiration. That and my computer crashed, deleting all of the new chapters (this is my dad's computer). Anyway, I'll leave these posted in case I ever get the courage or inspiration to come back to them. I'm really very sorry. But please feel free to email me if you want to know the rest of the plot or have anything you want to say. Vive.memor.leti at () gmail . com

Thank you for being such great readers.

Love,

Crimson Tears


	15. Surprise Visit

Sorry for taking so long with this, I, well I don't even know what happened, I kind of just stopped using the computer. But now I'm using it again!

Thank you everyone who reviewed chapters 13 and 14 (although that wasn't really a chapter, just me being stupid) you guys are wonderful!

Disclaimer: don't own

Recap: The power outage ends and Shuichi is kind of starting to warm up to Yuki again, Shuichi has a mishap in the kitchen which causes both Yuki and Shuichi to fall. And then a mystery person enters the apartment.

_---------------------------_

"_Shuichi?"_

Two heads turned to the direction of the voice and saw the silhouette of a man standing in the doorway, a stuffed animal dangling from one hand. Yuki pushed himself off of Shuichi and stood up, never taking his eyes off the man in the doorway for a second. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Ryuichi? What are you doing here?" Shuichi asked getting up to stand next to Yuki.

The older man pouted, looking slightly offended. "Did you forget? We always go to Leavenworth (1) for the Festival of Lights!"

Shuichi's eyes widened and he slapped "Oh my God! I'm sorry Ryu! Things have been a little…different around here." Shuichi said, glancing over at Yuki. "But we can still go! I love the Festival of Lights!" Shuichi exclaimed in excitement. His happy expression quickly changed to one of confusion. "Hey Ryuichi, how did you get here? Surely they closed all of the airports because of the storm."

No reply.

"Ryuichi?"

Ryuichi had been staring straight at Yuki ever since Shuichi had started talking and Yuki had been glaring right back.

"Shuichi, why is _he_ here." Ryuichi asked, his deep azure eyes never once breaking from Yuki's icy golden ones.

Shuichi, wanting to avoid any more fights with his friends, jumped directly into the path of Ryuichi's gaze. "It's ok Ryu! I told him that he could stay here for a while! Just because he's here it doesn't mean that we can't go down to Leavenworth for the festival! Right?"

Ryuichi, reverting back to his normal self, smiled at Shuichi, "Of course!"

Shuichi smiled with relief. Turning around, he face Yuki, "Do you want to come with us? It's a really, really pretty festival and there are tons of really cool…Yuki?" At some point during Shuichi's conversation with Ryuichi it seemed Yuki had disappeared. Looking around, Shuichi noticed the door to Yuki's temporary room, previously closed, was now just barely ajar. Smiling apologetically to Ryuichi, Shuichi excused himself and headed down the hallway. Shuichi took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

"Hey Yuki, what-…Are you packing?" Shuichi asked, surprised that Yuki would go to such an extent over such a trivial issue.

"Does it matter?" Yuki asked, not bothering to stop and look at Shuichi.

"Not really, no. But I would like to know why."

"Why?"

"Yeah"

Yuki stopped packing and turned to face Shuichi. "You told him where you were. Of all people him. You trusted him over me and everyone else."

Shuichi stared at Yuki. "That has got to be the dumbest thing I've ever heard come from you. Why would I tell _you_ where I was? If I wanted you to know where I was, I would never have left Japan."

"Even so, why did you have to tell him? Why not your best friend? Do you have idea how much your selfish decision affected Hiro?"

Shuichi visibly stiffened at the sound of his friend's name and a look of guilt flickered briefly across his face. "You know what Yuki, I really don't want to deal with this right now." He said, turning to leave. "Ryuichi and I are leaving in five minutes with or without you, I don't care which. But if you choose to say, I don't want you here when I get back." With that he left, closing the door and leaving a shell-chocked Yuki behind.

Shuichi leaned against the door outside Yuki's temporary room, for the past three years he had avoided thinking about Hiro; the remorse for leaving without saying anything had been to much for Shuichi and he had blocked it out of his head.

"Shu? Are you ok?" Ryuichi asked quietly from the end of the hallway.

Shuichi smiled reassuringly over at his friend. "Yeah I'm fine. I'm going to go change, I'll be out in a minute." Ryuichi nodded and went to wait on the couch. A few minutes later Shuichi emerged from his room bundled up in a warm winter coat complete with hat, scarf, and mittens. He entered into the living room to find Yuki and Ryuichi sitting across from each other, each apparently oblivious to the others' presence.

Needless to say the 2-hour car ride to the town was extremely tense and awkward. More than once Shuichi found himself breaking up arguments about meaningless little things like whether or not Gatorade was better than Powerade, an argument Shuichi didn't quite understand because he was fairly certain that neither of them liked sports drinks to begin with.

Finally, much to Shuichi's relief, they arrived in Leavenworth. However, his relief was short lived. Shuichi had hoped that once they arrived, Ryuichi and Yuki would calm down and just put up with each other for a little while. No such luck. The two continued bickering until Shuichi, fed up with trying to stop them, wandered off on his own after catching sight of an attractive sign. Ryuichi and Yuki, completely consumed intheir current argument, didn't even notice Shuichi had left until Ryuichi turned around to ask for Shuichi's support on a matter about one hour later.

"Shuichi, you agree with me, don't you?" Ryuichi asked, twisting his head to see Shuichi, who, of course, had long since disappeared. Yuki and Ryuichi both stopped and turned to look back in the direction they had come. "Shuichi…?"

Yuki felt a bubble of panic begin to rise. _'Not again. Please, God not again. I've only just found him.' _"SHIT!" Where'd he go?!"

"Don't ask me!" Ryuichi retorted.

The two stood there for a second, trying to figure out when or where Shuichi had disappeared to. Not coming up with anything, Yuki turned to Ryuichi. "Let's split up and look for him. We'll meet back here in 45 minutes, ok?"

"Fine." And without another word the two headed off to search.

-------------------30 minutes later…approximately-------------

Yuki leaned against the wall, breathing heavily, Shuichi was gone. For the second time Shuichi had vanished from Yuki's life without a single word. Looking up, Yuki gazed blankly at the ice cream parlor across from him. He blinked. There was something vaguely familiar about the boy inside eating ice cream. Slowly, he pushed himself away from the frozen wall and walked up the steps to the door. Opening the door, Yuki nearly fainted with relief; sitting over at a table with a giant ice cream Sunday, was Shuichi.

"Shuichi…"

Shuichi looked up upon hearing his name. "Oh! Yuki! There your are…where's Ryuichi?" Shuichi asked in a tone that just exuded innocence. Whether that innocence was fake or real, Yuki couldn't tell .

Yuki felt a whirlwind of contrasting emotions flood through him; Anger, joy, irritation, even sadness that Shuichi did not seem to care that they had been separated. The most overwhelming emotion, however, was relief, relief that Shuichi had no run away again, relief at the fact that Shuichi was still here with him.

Walking over to the table, Shuichi collapsed into the chair across from Shuichi. "Have you been here the whole time?"

Shuichi smiled and nodded his head. "You and Ryuichi wouldn't stop fighting and so I got bored. And then I saw this poster with an _amazing_ looking bowl of ice cream on it so I came here."

Yuki stayed quiet for a minute, he hadn't even thought about Shuichi while fighting with Ryuichi. "I'm sorry." He said softly. "We should have paid more attention to you."

Shuichi stopped eating and looked at Yuki in shock; that was the most sincere apology Shuichi had ever heard come from Yuki.

"I should have stopped it. Seeing how I am the more mature one."

Shuichi rolled his eyes at this. "What about that little tantrum you threw this morning? That was far from mature."

Yuki pretended not to hear Shuichi and smoothly changed the subject. "Shuichi…How many of those have you had?"

Shuichi looked down at the monstrous pile of sugar in front of him. "Hmm…I think this is my third one."

Yuki sighed, knowing that within the hour Shuichi be on an unmatchable sugar high. Standing up, he offered a hand to Shuichi who, after a moment's hesitation, accepted and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "Come on." Yuki said, "I have to meet Ryuichi in five minutes."

----------------------------------later------------------

Shuichi stepped out of the shower. It had been one incredibly long day; when Yuki and Shuichi and met up with Ryuichi again, the younger singer had been tackled to the ground hugged tightly by a crying Ryuichi who kept ranting on about how sorry and worried he had been. Fortunately a rather pissed looking Yuki had quickly pulled the older man off of Shuichi before he suffocated. The three, deciding the day had been long enough, had mutually decided it was time to return home. Ryuichi, having to return to Los Angeles so he could make an early morning flight to Japan, had left shortly after dinner that evening. (This is me being lazy :D)

A very exhausted Shuichi stepped into the shower letting the hot water run over his body and relieve the tension and stress the days events had caused. Shuichi sighed in a slightly irritated manner, after reuniting with Ryuichi, not much had been said between Shuichi and Yuk. Actually, the more Shuichi thought about it, Yuki had been unnervingly quiet since Ryuichi had left. Even before that, Yuki had barely spoken and when he did speak, it had seemed forced.

Shuichi walked out into the living room, drying his hair with a towel. He froze when he saw Yuki sitting on the couch, gazing blankly out of the large window into the vast sea of city lights. "Yuki?" He asked softly, walking up and sitting down next to him on the couch. "Are you ok?"

There was a long pause while Yuki tried to pull himself together. When he finally spoke his voice sounded broken and was barely audible. "Shuichi…would you ever consider…If you had the chance would you…"

"Would I what?" Shuichi prompted softly.

"Would you leave again?"

Shuichi was shocked, not by the question itself, but because Yuki had been so worried over such a thing. He had no idea he had affected Yuki that much. It was kind of cute. Maybe Yuki had really changed or at least learned a lesson or two. Maybe, just maybe, it would be ok to trust him once more. Smiling softly, Shuichi slipped his hand into Yuki's. "No. There isn't a reason for me to go."

Yuki shifted so he could look at Shuichi, scared to believe what he had just heard. "So…you aren't mad at me anymore?"

"I was never mad at you, just hurt. But I don't hate having you around, if that answers your question."

Shuichi could almost see Yuki's fears leave him.

"I hope you know this doesn't mean that I may not change my mind."

"I know."

The two stayed like that, staring out into the twinkling lights of the city, perfectly content with one another. Shuichi had nearly dozed off when Yuki's voice abruptly cut through the silence. "Shuichi…will you come back to Japan with me?"

-------------------------------------------------------

(1) Leavenworth: A very festive little town in Washington state, my family went to one Christmas when we were visiting family.

Don't worry. This story isn't over yet. The biggest test is still yet to come. I mean come on, there's no way Sean would just let Shuichi go. ;D

Love,

CT

P.S. sorry for any grammatical/spelling mistakes I made, half of this was written like over a month ago and I was to lazy to check over it. So if you see any mistakes that need fixing, please tell me. Thank you!


	16. Shuichi's Decision

Disclaimer: I don't own Gravitation

"Shuichi…will you come back to Japan with me?"

Shuichi looked at Yuki with a bewildered expression. Of all things he hadn't been expecting this. After a moment of silence, he swallowed and looked away. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? You left to avoid me, but now that I've found you the reason for you to stay here no longer exists."

"Maybe that reason is dead, but there is another one. You can't forget I've been living here for three years. I have created a whole new life for myself. I mean, what about my friends? What would Sean and Brandon say if I just up and left with no explanation?"

"You didn't seem to have a problem with that before." Yuki regretted those words the instant they left his mouth.

"Shut up!" Shuichi yelled, tearing his hand from Yuki's and standing up, a murderous expression on his face. "That was a completely different situation. You have no right to compare the two."

"You're right, I don't." Yuki said, standing up to face Shuichi. "That was wrong of me to say. But please hear me out."

Shuichi glowered at Yuki, debating between being mature and listening to what the other man had to say or adopting a more child-like behavior and run away. Obviously, the mature side won. "Fine I'll listen, but I want you to know that I don't plan on staying."

"I'm not asking you to do that. Just come visit. You still have one more week off, right? Come back to Japan with me." At the look of uncertainty on Shuichi's face, Yuki sighed, it looked like he would have to use his trump card. "Even if it's not for me, don't you want to set things straight with Hiro-kun?"

"I-Of course I do." Shuichi said softly. "But…" Pride stopped Shuichi from completing his sentence, three years ago Shuichi would have had no problem admitting he was scared, but now he just couldn't bring himself to do it.

Even without Shuichi saying anything, Yuki seemed to know what was going through his mind. "Hiro doesn't hate you Shuichi. He could never hate you."

Shuichi turned away from Yuki, still feeling unconvinced. "Let me think about for a little bit. I'm going to bed, I'll see you in the morning."

xXx-------xXx

Then next morning Yuki awoke to find Shuichi gone and a brief note on the kitchen counter that simply told Yuki not to worry and that he would be back by lunch.

xXx--------xXx

"WHAT!!!!"

"I said-"

"I know what you said Shu, but honestly how can you even consider that?"

Shuichi sat at the tabling, staring across it at his bewildered and obviously upset friend. He had thought about Yuki's proposition late into the night and in the end decided it would be best if he went. "Sean please don't overreact like that, it's not like I'm leaving for good, I would only be gone for one week. Just so I can set things straight with my family and friends. Brandon, you agree with me, right?" Shuichi asked, looking at his other friend imploringly.

"Sean I think we should let Shuichi go. It will be good for him to get everything sorted out. And if it really is what Shuichi wants to do, then we have no right to stop him."

After grumbling incoherently about something, Sean looked at Shuichi, "Fine, I guess it's not that bad of an idea. But at least let Brandon and I come with you."

"I don't think so Sean. I would really prefer to go alone."

"But Shuichi, what if something happens while you're over there? Brandon and I won't be able to help you if you're all the way across and ocean!"

Shuichi gave Sean an irritated look. "I don't need anyone to take care of me, I grew out of that phase a long time ago. I'll be fine Sean, trust me. The people there are my friends. I really don't know what you're so concerned about."

"Come on Sean," Brandon cut in, "It's not like he won't be able to contact us or anything. He can still call us and if anything really bad happens we can just have him fly on back."

"Alright, I get it." Sean said in a defeated voice. "But if anything, anything at all, happens, then just call and Brandon and I will come over right away and get you out of there."

"Calm down Sean, it's not like I'm going into battle or anything."

"I know. I can't help but worry about you. Just promise me you'll call if anything happens."

"Of course, I promise." Shuichi said with a smile, "There's no one else I would call. Ok well, I should probably get going, I promised Yuki I would be home by lunchtime. I'll call you guys when I know when Yuki and I are leaving."

The two Americans watched their friend walk off. "Brandon…"

"Yeah?"

"What if…he doesn't want to come back?"

Brandon leaned back into the chair. This was the one thing Brandon was most worried about; apparently he wasn't the only one. "I guess if that happens…well, we'll just deal with it when the time comes. But I don't think Shuichi will do that to us." He said optimistically in an attempt to soothe both his own doubts as well as Sean's.

"Yeah…I guess you're right." Sean said, sounding very unconvinced. "Hey Brandon…"

"What?"

"I…never mind. I'm going home. I'll see you later."

"Kay. If you need anything don't hesitate to call me."

Sean didn't respond, there was a brief nod of his head, affirming that he had heard Brandon's last sentence but nothing more. He needed to think.

Shuichi going to Japan would only cause problems. Why couldn't Shuichi see that Sean only wanted to help, that he only wanted what was best for Shuichi. Sean glared down at the pavement, not even focusing on where he was walking. It was all that stupid bastard Yuki Eiri's fault. Everything had been going fine until he showed up. Stealing Shuichi away with all his false flattery and affection. If only Shuichi could see that bastard for what he really was. Sean stopped in his tracks. That was it. All he needed to do was prove to Shuichi what a jerk that guy really was, and Sean knew just how to do it.

---------

Sorry about the length. I'll make it longer next time, I just had to stop it before Sean started putting his plan into action. Anyway…review if you feel up to it.

Au revoir

CT


	17. Elemental

Finally! Chapter 17! I'm sorry it takes me so long. But I'm writing two other stories right now, False Light (which I really need to work on) and another story not on this site. Not to mention track has started. I can't wait for summer!!

Lilgurlanima: Sorry but you're gonna have to wait until the next chapter to see whether or not Sean's plan backfires.

Shipet100: Don't worry, I have a feeling Sean will meet everyone sooner or later. :D

PaulaLopez: No worries, the jealous friend madness will continue

Lil1diva: Oh sad! I hate it when brothers steal candy! Well I'll bake you a whole batch of cookies.

Yappa: I'm glad you like the story, If you hate Sean, you are going to want to kill him by the end of chapter 18.

Disclaimer: Same as always, Gravitation does not and will not ever belong to me…seriously, are these really necessary?

--

"Hey Yuki! I'm back!" Shuichi yelled as he entered the apartment.

"Really? I couldn't tell."

"Sarcasm is really unnecessary and unwanted Yuki. Honestly, if you really wanted me to go back to Japan with you I would think you would at least be polite."

"You're right, I'm sorry. I'm glad you're back Shuichi so would you please accompany me back to Japan for a week?"

Shuichi stared at Yuki; a disturbed yet amused expression shown on his face (Is that even possible? Disturbed and amused at the same time? Whatever.) . "That might just be the creepiest thing I have ever heard you say."

"Well then how do you want me to say it?"

Shuichi thought for a while, Yuki saying anything differently than normal, typical Yuki would just seemed wrong and out of place, almost to the point of being scary. "I don't know. Anyway I was with Brandon and Sean talking about what we discussed last night."

"Oh. And what do they think?"

"Well I know Brandon likes the idea and I think Sean does as well, he probably just needs some time to get used it."

"So this means…you'll come?" Yuki asked, looking at Shuichi uncertainly.

"Yeah, I'll come. But just for the week." For a second Shuichi was sure Yuki was going to hug him but instead Yuki just turned and quickly walked back to his room.

"I'm going to go buy the tickets."

"…ok." Shuichi said, slightly confused, he had originally expected more of a reaction that just 'I'll go buy the tickets' like it had been a really simple decision for Shuichi to make. _'Oh well,'_ Shuichi thought, _'I guess I should know better than to expect something big from Yuki.'_

"Hey Shuichi!" Yuki called from his room, "Do you care where you sit?"

"I want a window seat please."

Shuichi turned and began to walk toward the bathroom, hoping for a nice hot shower when his phone started ringing from inside his bag. He fumbled around in the pockets, trying to find his phone quickly before it stopped ringing. As he pulled it out, he glanced at the caller ID. It was Brandon. Relieved that it wasn't Sean, Shuichi answered the phone. "Hey! What's up?"

_"Hey Shuichi. I know you're probably busy right now so I'll make this quick. Please don't be mad at Sean for what he said earlier. He's just worried about you."_

Shuichi remained silent for a moment before responding. "I know."

_"That's good. Well, if I don't talk to you again before you leave, have fun and call if you need anything."_

"I will. Bye Brandon."

No sooner had Shuichi closed his phone than it started ringing again. Not bothering to check the caller ID this time, Shuichi answered. "Hello?"

_"Hey Shuichi, this is Sean."_

"Oh, hey."

_"Um I just wanted to call and tell you I'm sorry for how I acted earlier. I think going to Japan will be good for you."_

"Don't worry about it Sean."

"_Also, do you know when you are leaving yet?"_

"Um, I don't know, let me check." Setting down the phone Shuichi ran to where Yuki was busy purchasing the tickets. "Hey Yuki! What time is our flight for?"

"10:15 tomorrow morning." Yuki replied without looking up.

"Thanks." Running back to the phone, he picked it up and relayed the information to Sean.

"_Great! Then how about going out tonight for a little bit?"_

"Where to?"

_"I was thinking 'Elemental'. After all that is the place where we all first met each other."_

"Yeah…Hey! Did you know the owner opened up a new club? Same name it's just in a different part of town. He wants it to become a chain I think."

_"…Really? I didn't hear that. Anyway do you want to come?"_

"Sure! What time?"

_"I was thinking 7:30 maybe."_

"Ok! Do you want me to call Brandon and invite him?"

_"Eh no thanks, I'll do that."_

"Ok, well see you later Sean."

_"Bye."_

"Who was that?"

"Oh. That was Sean, he and Brandon want to get together with me tonight before I go."

Yuki gave Shuichi a scrutinizing look. "Why? Didn't you see him this morning?"

"Yeah…but he was still kind of against me going so we didn't separate on the best of terms."

"You know, when you say it that way, it sounds like you're talking about an ex-boyfriend."

Shuichi threw Yuki an un-amused expression and didn't bother to respond further.

--At Sean's Apartment

Sean paced around his apartment; he needed someone to help him with this, someone who hated Shuichi with a passion. Then it hit him. Who would be better suited for this than Shuichi's ex-girlfriend? (OMFG!! Shuichi had girlfriend! Shocking!)

Sean picked up his phone, praying he still had Cassy's number in his phone. She had only dated Shuichi for a little over one month before Shuichi broke it off with her. Shuichi never told anyone the reason he gave her and neither did she, but it was clear whatever Shuichi had said hadn't been too pleasant because the girl had despised Shuichi ever since.

Scrolling down, Sean finally spotted her name. He took a deep breath, told himself once more that everything he was doing was for Shuichi's own good, and pressed send.

_"Hello?"_

"Hey Cassy, this is Sean, Shu-Riley's friend, remember me?"

_"…Yeah I remember you. What do you want?"_

"I need your help with something."

_"Why the hell should I help you and that fag?!"_ Sean blinked in surprise. Shuichi must have told Cassy he was gay. Oh well, that saved him some effort.

"Ok. First of all, please don't call my friend that. Second, you would be helping me to break up Riley and his boyfriend."

_"Why would I want to help you do that?"_

"Come on, I know you hate Shuichi. This is your chance to get back at him."

_"…Sure. I'll help. Just promise me I won't get into any major trouble by doing this."_

"You won't. I swear it."

_"So what do I have to do?"_

"I need you to be at 'Elemental' tonight at around 8:00."

_"The new one or the old one?"_

"The new one."

_"Sure no problem."_

"Ok. If everything goes according to plan then around 8:15…"

And we'll end it right there. :D

Can anyone guess what Sean's plan is? It really isn't too complex…I think…I actually haven't really thought it out yet…well, we'll see next chapter!

So I had meant to write up to the return to Japan, but this became longer than expected and I figured 'what the hell, why not just post this?' So anyway I hope you enjoyed it.

Please review! Hearing er I mean reading your guys's comments really helps me write!

Chapter 18 is halfway done so hopefully I will finish it by the end of the week and get it posted!

-CT


	18. Plan in Action

Well

Well. So much for posting by the end of the week. Sorry about that. I got stuck on the end of this chapter and I had so much other stuff going on (my brother just graduated law school. I haven't even graduated high school yet!). Anyway. Not important anymore. It's up now and that's all that matters…right?

To all my reviewers thank you so much!! You guys are the best ever! Seriously. I'm not one of those people who would have the guts to continue something without support so thank you! Lil1diva-totally know where you're coming from with the of mice and men thing. It also doesn't help that there is a huge mural of the scene where George shoots Lennie on the wall of my English classroom.

Disclaimer: I don't own this manga, no matter how much I wish I did.

--

Shuichi stepped into the club, looking around to see if Sean and Brandon were there yet. He spotted them and headed over toward the table.

"Shuichi!" Sean called as he saw his friend approaching.

"Hey Sean"

"Oh? Shuichi you didn't bring Yuki with you?"

Shuichi looked at Sean surprised. "I didn't know he was invited. Anyway, I thought you hated him."

"I did, but if you like him that much I can't really stop you so I might as well learn to like him."

Brandon smiled to himself, it seemed Sean was finally growing up. "Well, why don't we call Yuki and ask if he wants to join us?"

"Oh, I don't know if he would want to." Shuichi said. "He doesn't really like places like

this."

"Well it never hurts to ask!" Sean cut in. "Shuichi, you sit down and order something, I'll go call him."

"Are you sure? I can do it if you want."

"No, no. I have to make another phone call anyway." Sean said, leaving before any other protest could be made.

"That's weird." Shuichi said, looking over at Brandon. "I thought it would take a little longer than this for Sean to start liking Yuki."

"Yeah. So did I." Brandon replied distractedly. He was still staring after Sean. Ever

since they were little, the two of them had been best friends; they knew each other better than anyone else so it wasn't hard for Brandon to tell that Sean was up to something.

"Brandon? Are you with me?"

"Huh. Yeah. I was just thinking." Brandon said, still not fully focused on Shuichi.

"Honestly. You and Sean are both acting strange."

Brandon turned his full attention back to Shuichi, smiling reassuringly at him. "Sorry, I was just a little distracted. Hey do you want something to drink? I'll go order something." With that Brandon was gone leaving a confused and very annoyed Shuichi by himself at the table.

"Fine! Just leave me here!…He didn't even ask what I wanted…"

--

Yuki sat at the table making a few corrections on the paper before him. After Shuichi had left he started writing songs, hoping that one of them would somehow bring Shuichi back to him. Of course that was impossible since none of them had ever been sung or even seen by anyone except Yuki. This current one he was working on he had started writing on the plane ride over and had secretly been working on ever since. It was to be a gift to Shuichi since the singer had always wanted to sing a song written by Yuki. He was just finishing up when the phone rang.

--Meanwhile with Sean--

Sean made his way through the mass of people in the club and down a more isolated hallway. He had a bad feeling the Brandon suspected he was up to something. Hopefully he wouldn't say anything to Shuichi. Taking his phone out of his pocket he took a deep breath and dialed Shuichi's home number.

"_Hello?"_

"Hello. Is this Yuki?"

"_Yes. Who is this?"_

"This is Sean, Shuichi's friend."

"_Oh. What do you want?"_

Sean grimaced at Yuki's tone of voice; it was so…cold. Still, Sean knew he had to act nice if this was going to work. "The three of us, me, Brandon, and Shuichi, were just wondering if you wanted to come down here and join us."

"_Why would I want to do that? We don't get along, remember."_

"Yeah….I apologize for any rude behavior before. I just think it would be nice if we could get along; I know it would mean a lot to Shuichi."

"… Alright. Where are you guys again? I don't think Shuichi mentioned where he would be going."

"Really? Well we're at 'Elemental' the new one."

"Ok. I'll be down there soon."

Sean heard the click that signaled Yuki had hung up and grinned. This was working out perfectly. Opening his phone again, he dialed in Cassy's number.

"Hey Cassy. He'll be down there shortly. You have the stuff I gave you, right?"

"Yeah, the bartender is going to put it in his drink for me. It's not going to hurt him, is it?"

"No. All it will do is make him more…open to suggestion you could say. But he'll be fine don't worry."

"Ok. Call me after and tell me how everything ended, kay."

"Ok. I guess I'll see you soon then."

--

Brandon made his way through the crowd in the direction he had seen Sean go. As he neared a corner, he heard Sean's voice. "Ok. I guess I'll see you soon then." He stopped. Maybe he was overreacting, Sean wouldn't be stupid enough to try and destroy Shuichi's shot at happiness. Turning, Brandon quickly made his way back to the table.

"Hey Shuichi. Sorry about that."

"…Where's my drink." He asked with a glare.

"Um…--"

"Hey guys! Yuki said he would come down so he should be here in a couple minutes."

"Really?" Shuichi said, perking up.

"Yeah. Shuichi, you didn't order anything?"

--10 minutes later--

The three friends had been sitting at the table, reminiscing about the experiences of the past three years when Sean said, "Hey shouldn't Yuki be here by now? It doesn't take this long to get down here."

Shuichi looked up, "Oh I'm sure he'll be here in a little bit. He probably just wanted to finish packing or something." He said nonchalantly.

"Oh."

Shuichi and Brandon continued their conversation, while Sean lapsed into silence, trying to figure out the best way to make this work out. Finally the two got sick of Sean's nervous fidgets.

"Sean what's bothering you? You can't honestly be that worried about Yuki. Even if you don't hate him anymore there's no way you can all of a sudden like him that much." Shuichi said pointedly. "Come on Sean relax, I won't see you guys for a week so let's just enjoy ourselves."

"Yeah, you're right Shuichi, I'm sorry," Sean said with an apologetic

smile." I just feel like-Oh!"

"What's wrong Sean?"

"I forgot to specify which club to come to!"

The three stared at each other. "Well, can we call him?" Brandon finally asked, looking over at Shuichi.

"Um…I don't have his number. Actually I don't even know if he has a cell phone over here." Shuichi said, suddenly feeling very stupid for not asking Yuki about this.

There was more silence and then: "I guess we should go check, huh."

"Might as well." Shuichi replied, getting up, "I kind of want to see the owner's new place anyway."

Sean could barely contain a sigh of relief as he followed the other two to the door, how things went from here was completely up to chance.

--

Yuki walked into the club, scouring the rather large room for any sign of Shuichi or his dumb friends. Not seeing any of the three, he wandered over to the bar for a drink. May as well enjoy himself while he was looking for them. He sat down at the bar and was joined shortly by a pretty brunette.

"Bad choice."

It took a moment for Yuki to figure out she was talking to him. "What?"

"I said bad choice. Your drink."

"What's wrong with it?"

The girl smiled. "What's your name?" She asked, brushing his question aside.

He gave her a cold glare, trying to scare her off but it didn't seem to work. "I'm Yuki."

"Yuki, huh. That's an interesting name. Anyway Yuki, try this. It's much better than what you're drinking." The brunette said, handing him some sort of cocktail. "I'm Cassy by the way." She said as Yuki drank the liquid.

"Not bad." Yuki said as he set down the glass.

"Hey wanna dance?" Cassy asked.

"Sure." Yuki replied vacantly, trying to clear the suddenly turbid state of his head.

--

Shuichi stepped out of his car and made his way over to the back door where Sean and Brandon were already waiting.

"Wow Shuichi, think you took long enough?"

"Shut up Sean, I got stuck at a red light. Anyway let's go inside; it's cold out here." He pulled the door open and had barely taken three steps inside when something caught his eye and he froze. There over by the bar, stood Yuki, his arms wrapped around some brown-haired slut. Shuichi watched as the girl whispered something in Yuki's ear who smiled and laughed in response. And then suddenly the two were kissing and Shuichi felt his world shatter. Shock spread through his body, numbing it as if it had been submerged in a pool of ice water. A maelstrom of emotions flooded his body, distress, anger, hate, frustration, disbelief. Eventually the anger and hate took over and his body began to burn with revulsion.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!" Shuichi shouted, his voice piercing through the deafening commotion of the club.

--

Yuki couldn't think straight, his mind felt fuzzy and clouded. He knew he was kissing someone. He also knew there was something seriously wrong with that. but what? The only person he would ever kiss was Shuichi, right? And then a very familiar, very angry sounding voice cut through his thoughts. Yuki quickly pushed away whomever it was that he had been kissing and turned in shock to the direction of Shuichi's voice. Over by a door stood a very pissed off Shuichi and his two friends. Yuki stared at Shuichi, knowing he better find some way to calm him down and explain everything. "Shuichi…" Yuki said slowly, walking towards him. But the younger man didn't wait to hear what the other had to say; he turned and fled the room.

--

Shuichi pushed past his friends and ran to his car, ignoring Yuki's pleas for him to wait. He should have known letting Yuki back into his life was a bad idea, but no, he had to revert back to the forgiving and ever-trusting boy he had been. His pressed harder onto the gas pedal as he made his way home, barely paying attention to the surrounding traffic. He felt angry. Angry at Yuki for doing something like this, angry at the world for letting this happen, but most of all angry at himself for ever believing that a man like Yuki could change. Pulling into his parking space, he quickly made his way up to his apartment and began tossing the few items Yuki hadn't yet packed into his suitcase. He had just finished when he heard the door open and someone run in.

"Shuichi?! Are you here?!" Came Yuki's frantic voice from the doorway.

Picking up the piece of luggage, Shuichi made his way towards the entryway. "Get out Yuki!" He shouted scathingly, throwing the bag at him.

"Shuichi wait! This is a huge misunderstanding!"

"What's the misunderstanding? Huh Yuki? You were kissing a woman how the fuck is that a misunderstanding?!"

"I didn't mean to! I was looking for you!"

"In her mouth?!" Shuichi shouted.

"Will you just calm down and listen to me?!"

Shuichi was silent for a moment, returning Yuki's pleading look with a venomous glare. "No. I don't want to hear any of your excuses. I knew this wouldn't work out so please leave and don't _ever_ come back." Shuichi shouted as he turned and started to walk away.

"Shuichi come on, please don't do this. We both know you're just going to regret it."

Shuichi stopped and whirled around with a glare so full of hate Yuki nearly fell of over. "You know what I regret Yuki? I regret giving you a second chance. I regret believing you could ever change. I regret not realizing sooner that you were a self-centered bastard. I even regret jumping in front of your car that time. But this, Yuki this is one thing I'm certain I'm not going to regret."

Shuichi watched with a sick pleasure the shocked and hurt look that was so blatantly obvious on Yuki's face. If ever words were to make Yuki Eiri cry, it seemed these would be the ones. "You really want me to leave then."

Shuichi didn't give any response other than a cold, unforgiving stare.

"Alright then. I really am sorry about what happened Shuichi. But maybe this is for the best after all." With that he was gone, leaving nothing behind except a broken-hearted Shuichi who sank to the ground, all the strength and determination that had been present only moments ago had vanished with Yuki. Tears started to pour from his eyes. Somehow, something had gone wrong. This was not the way things were supposed to turn out.

--

Please don't hate me. I know everyone hoped Sean's plan wouldn't work, but I really wanted it to.

Ok, so I'm thinking 3 maybe 4 chapters left in this and then I'm going to focus on False Light and maybe another idea I've been playing with. I still have yet to decide if Shuichi and Yuki will stay together in this one, we'll see how things play out.

Anyway, read and review please! Thank you!

-CT


	19. Chapter 19

Yuki sat on the bench

Finally chapter 19!! :D

Thank you to all my reviewers-

**Eirina**- Yay! I'm glad someone liked Sean's plan!

**Lilgurlanima**-Yeah Sean and Cassy are definitely not the most favorite characters right now

**DarkMetalAngel of Destruction**-Thanks for the review, you've reviewed like every chapter so seriously thanks!

**Alice22**-Shuichi is most definitely going to be pissed once he finds out what Sean did-_if_ he finds out…

**MiniBloodyMurder**-Yeah Yuki was kind of being an idiot, but even amazing people like him mess up sometimes, right? :D

**Secret25**-Hmm who knows. Maybe I'm mean enough to give this story a sad ending. I guess we'll see ;D

Sabaku no Sable-I agree. Sean most definitely does need his ass kicked. :D

**Chochowilliams**-Hm good observation with the meds, I didn't think about that. Oh well, too late now. I agree it would suck to have Shuichi on your bad side.

**Lil1diva**- You're right. Last chapter did happen way to quickly. I think I'm going to go back a re-write it soon. But I think you'll be very happy with at least one part of the next chapter ;D Anyway thanks for your review-it inspired to go back and revise all of my other chapters

**Yozuik­**-loved your review! It made me laugh! :D

**Rin**-Hm we'll see if they get back together or not.

**A Graviation fan**- Oh don't cry! I'm glad you like the story!

**Sonata hirano**-I know, kind of sucks to be them right now.

**Darkangelsseductress**-I know you didn't review last chapter but I completely forgot to say thank you for your review on chapter 17, that was seriously one of the nicest things I've heard…er read in while. So thank you! Seriously. I almost cried. :P

**Disclaimer:** I don't own. These things are so annoying!

--xXx--

Sean and Brandon watched helplessly as Shuichi and Yuki took off. Sean was just about to jump in his car and chase after them when a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

"Let's wait a while Sean, let them…talk things over. Now is not a time for us to be interfering." Brandon said seriously. "Shuichi will call us if he needs anything."

"What if he can't call? What if that guy does something to Shuichi and we can't help him because we're sitting around waiting for a stupid phone call?!"

"Have a little faith in Yuki, Sean, I really don't think he's dumb enough to do anything that would make Shuichi any more angry then he already is."

"What the hell makes you so certain?!"

"I've always been a good judge of character. I can tell the good people from the bad and I know that Yuki is definitely not a bad person." Brandon said with a smug grin.

At this Sean couldn't help but laugh coldly.

Brandon gave Sean a piercing look that made Sean stop immediately. "Is there something you want to say, my dear friend?'

"N-no." Sean stuttered but recovered quickly and continued, "I just find it hard to believe that you would place our best friends' safety in the hands of an ex-boyfriend he ran away from all because instinct tells you 'it will be ok'. Does that really seem smart to you?"

"Yes. You see, I don't think Yuki is really at fault for any of this."

Before Sean could ask for more clarification on Brandon's cynical statement, Brandon's cell phone rang. "It's Shuichi." Brandon stated, glancing at the caller ID before answering.

"Hey Shu, what happened?"

"_Yuki- he left."_

"I see, well do you want me and–" Brandon broke off, looking around. Sean was nowhere to be seen. He had a sinking suspicion as to where his best friend went but chose to put off going after him, right now Shuichi was more important. "Do you want me to come over?"

_That would be great Brandon, thanks."_

--xXx--

Yuki wandered aimlessly through the park. It seemed so surreal. Things like this weren't supposed to happen. It seemed strange to Yuki that Shuichi had been willing to forgive the mistakes he made in the past and allow him a second chance but hadn't even considered listening to him for a mistake that wasn't even his fault. Yuki stopped. Perhaps he should go back and apologize to Shuichi again. Maybe by now he'll have calmed down enough to hear him out. Yuki shook his head and sat down on a nearby bench. Pulling out the letter he had been writing re-writing for Shuichi for the past two years, he stared at it blankly for a moment before setting it beside him. Leaning back he stared up at the sky, hoping for some sort of answer to a question he didn't even have.

Finally, after countless minutes of stargazing, Yuki realized something. Shuichi most definitely still loved him. It was blatantly obvious by the hurt look that had shown on his face at the club. No one got that upset if they hated the other person. However, it was also obvious that Shuichi didn't trust him. Not one bit. And how could a relationship survive without trust? Yuki stared back at the envelope in his hands. Maybe, after three years, it was finally time for Yuki to give up and move on. Maybe this was just the way things were supposed to be. Not matter how shitty it seemed. Standing up, he grabbed his bag and walked away, leaving the letter lying on the bench.

--xXx--

"Are you sure you're ok Shuichi?" Brandon asked nervously from his seat as he watched Shuichi mix up his 'cookie batter'.

"Yeah I'm fine, why do you keep asking me that?" Shuichi said with a smile.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe the fact that you put tea in the coffee maker, and now you've combined the recipe for coconut macaroons with the recipe for peanut butter cookies."

Shuichi stopped mixing the batter he had been so furiously stirring and stared at it curiously. "Well maybe I want peanut butter coconut macaroon cookies." Shuichi stated, trying to sound confident but failing miserably as his hands began to shake. Shuichi felt something wet slide down his face and it took him a moment to realize that he was crying.

Standing up, Brandon walked over to Shuichi and gently but firmly took the mixing bowl away from him. Gathering his friend into his arms he pulled him close, rubbing soothing circles on his back in and attempt to calm Shuichi. "Hey Shuichi why don't you just go find him?"

"Don't be silly Brandon. What's done is done. It's time to let this go. Besides, what would I even say to him?" Shuichi chocked out, trying to keep his voice smooth and calm.

"Easy. Just apologize and hear him out. It's obvious that this isn't what you wanted to happen, so don't let pride or fear stop you from trying to be happy, just go after him."

Shuichi couldn't help but giggle a little at that. "Wow Brandon. You're so wise."

"Shut up Shu. I'm trying to be serious here!" Brandon chided lightly, but smiling nonetheless. He was glad to see a genuine smile from his friend. They stood for a moment more, Brandon still hugging Shuichi until he finally pulled back, wiping any remaining tears away. "Well Shu, what are you going to do?"

Shuichi sighed, his face grim. "I'm going to move on with my life. No matter how hard we try, I don't think Yuki and I could seriously make a relationship work. And let's not forget the fact that after only one week together he has already cheated on me."

"What if it really was just a misunderstanding?"

"What makes you say that?"

"Nothing, it's just don't you want to know the truth?"

"Find me some proof that Yuki was telling the truth, Brandon, and maybe I'll reconsider my decision."

Brandon nodded his head. Although disappointed in his friend's choice, Brandon didn't want to aggravate Shuichi anymore. "Alright Shu. If that's what you want. Now come on, you need sleep. You look like hell right now."

At Brandon's words, Shuichi suddenly felt a wave of exhaustion wash over him, the stress of the day finally catching up with him. "Mk just let me clean up first." Shuichi mumbled sleepily, grabbing the mixing bowl that contained his peanut butter/coconut concoction in it only to have it immediately stolen away by Brandon.

"You go to sleep. I'll take care of the dishes."

Once finished, Brandon checked to make sure Shuichi was asleep, wrote a quick note to his friend in case he woke up, and left; he really needed to talk to Sean. If his suspicion was correct, then this fight between Shuichi and Yuki was completely pointless.

--xXx--

Sean stood in the darkened shadow of a tree, watching the man he hated more than anyone else in the world as best he could in the dim light. He could barely make out Yuki setting something on the bench beside him and then getting up and disappearing into the darkness several minutes later, leaving the object on the bench behind. Once certain that Yuki was gone, he made his way over to the bench and picked up the object.

--xXx--

Read and review please!

BTW everyone, I went through this story and noticed there were many contradictory things going on, so I re-wrote some parts of a the chapters. I also re did some of the Yuki/Shuichi interactions and gave Shu a bit more backbone.

Also one last thing, Should I add in a chapter that goes more in depth with Shuichi coming to America and meeting everyone?

-CT


	20. Chapter 20

After picking up the letter, Sean had followed Yuki to the airport, just to be certain the blonde-haired man was leaving for su

Ok this is all Sean and Brandon. It's not too interesting but I deemed it necessary.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I love you guys mucho!

ok whoever has not seen the snl palin/clinton skit, go check it out (if you're interested in the election), favorite quote "I can see Russia from my house."

Disclaimer: I no own!

--xXx--

After picking up the letter, Sean had followed Yuki to the airport, just to be certain the blonde-haired man was leaving for sure this time. Now, content with the knowledge that Yuki Eiri had indeed left the United States, Sean sat in his apartment, staring at the one last problem he had. He knew it was stupid of him to be spending this much time so fixated on this seemingly insignificant envelope. It was obvious that the best thing to do would be to just throw it in the trash and be done with it, end this whole ordeal for good, but for whatever reason he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Finally Sean sighed and tossed the troublesome letter onto the table in front of him, deciding a shower and some rest would do him some good; he would deal with the letter later.

--xXx--

Brandon made his way up to Sean's apartment very slowly, trying to figure out how best to approach the subject of Yuki and Shuichi with Sean; he couldn't choose between being blunt about it or easing into the conversation. All too soon it seemed, he found himself in front of the large wooden door. After a deep calming breath, he raised his fist and pounded it against the door. When he received no answer after knocking several times, Brandon let himself in with the spare key, deeming it less creepy to wait inside, even though not too many people would be wandering around at one in the morning. As he opened the door he was greeted with the sound of the shower running, answering the question of Sean's whereabouts. Brandon walked over to the couch and sank down into it; feeling exhaustion and the stress of the day weighing down on him. He stared blankly at the table in front him, willing his eyes not to close when something caught his attention. It took a moment for him to comprehend what he was looking at. Before him on the table was a letter with two Japanese symbols written on it. Brandon was so intrigued by the white paper envelope that he didn't even notice when the shower turned off so it was a bit of a surprise when he heard his best friends voice right behind him.

"Brandon? What are you doing here? Weren't you with Shuichi?"

"Yeah I left after he fell asleep." Brandon said, quickly recovering from the sudden surprise. "I just stopped by because I have something to ask you. But first, can you tell me what this is?" Brandon asked, holding up the letter for Sean to see.

"Oh, that? That's just something I found in the park." Sean said casually, grabbing the letter out of Sean's hand and throwing it into a nearby desk drawer.

As interesting as he found his friend's action, Brandon decided to move along to the main reason he had come. "Sean I need to ask you something." Brandon said, surprised at how calm he was able to keep his voice. "Did you or did you not have anything to do with this little fiasco between Yuki and Shuichi?"

Sean stared at his friend, at first in shock at the question but then Brandon could detect a hint of guilt and shame in his eyes. After what seemed like hours of fighting Brandon's piercing look, which to Sean felt like and interrogation spotlight, Sean finally broke.

"Fine! I admit it! I might have given Cassy a …suggestion. But so what? All I did was speed up the inevitable end for those two! Do you honestly think– " But Sean never got the chance to finish that particular sentence as Brandon's fist crashed into the side of his face, sending him flying across the floor into a wall. Even as he was regaining control of all his senses, Sean felt himself being lifted off the ground and ruthlessly slammed against the concrete wall behind him.

"God damnit, Brandon! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Sean screamed at his friend, he could feel the bruises beginning to form on his face and back and his eye had already swelled shut.

"What's wrong with _me_?! Sean, what's wrong with _you_? How could you do something like that to Shuichi?"

"Oh come on, don't pretend to be so righteous. You didn't like the situation any more than I did! Admit it, you knew I was doing something and yet you didn't do anything to try and stop it!" Sean yelled, shoving Brandon away from him.

"I might have had my suspicions, but that was all." Brandon said, doing what he could to stay calm and avoid any more violence, he hadn't meant to hit his friend like that, it just…sort of…happened.

"If you had suspicions why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't want to have to accuse my best friend of something like that! I wanted to believe that he was better than that. Now will you stop turning this against me! _You're_ the one who did something wrong here, not me!"

There was a brief silence before Sean responded, speaking softer now but still glaring heatedly at Brandon with the one eye he could still see out of. "So what if I did? We both know Shuichi deserves someone better than that."

"It's not our place to say that." Brandon replied, taking a hint from Sean and lowering his own voice to a more pleasant level. When Sean didn't respond Brandon sighed and muttered for Sean to sit down while he got ice, thinking it would be a good chance for both of them to cool their heads. When he returned Sean was sitting on the couch with the letter in his hands.

"That's for Shuichi isn't it." Brandon stated, tossing Sean the ice pack and taking a seat next to him.

"I don't know. I can't read Japanese." Sean remarked bitterly; although both men had calmed down now, Sean still wasn't too happy about being hit in the face at full force.

"Then why don't we just take it to Shuichi? He could tell us what it says and we would know if it was for him or not."

"No!"

"Sean what has gotten in to you? I would think you would be searching for any possible way to remedy this situation. Why are you so against Yuki and Shuichi being together? I mean breaking up two happy people seems kind of extreme, don't you think? It's almost as if you're…" Brandon trailed off as a thought hit him. Insane as it seemed, he couldn't help but ask. "Hey Sean, is it possible in any way that you…like Shuichi?"

Sean didn't say anything, but the way his body froze up gave Brandon his answer anyway.

"Well this explains things." Brandon muttered, leaning back into the soft material of the couch.

"Do you think…there's still a chance I could be with Shuichi?" Sean asked suddenly, turning to look directly at Brandon.

"To be perfectly honest, I don't know. But before we deal with any of that, go tell Shuichi the truth and give him that letter. We both know if you don't say anything about it you'll be feeling guilty the rest of your life."

Sean shifted his gaze back to the letter, smiling half-heartedly at the truth in Brandon's words. "I hate it when you're right."

"Alright then, let's go!" Brandon said, getting up and walking over to the door,

"What, you want me to tell him right now?! Brandon, be serious. It's nearly three in the morning! I doubt Shuichi would be happy if we woke him up right now no matter what the reason."

Brandon laughed. "This is true. Do you want to come back with me anyway?"

Sean shook his head. "No thanks, I'll stay here, figure out the best way to tell Shuichi."

"Ok, come over when you wake up then! See ya!"

Brandon made his way back to Shuichi's as quickly and safely as he could. When he finally reached the apartment, he poked his head into Shuichi's room to check on his small friend and noticed something was terribly wrong. It took a moment for him to pinpoint the exact problem but when it finally hit him he instantly grabbed his phone and dialed Sean's number.

"What do you need now?" Came Sean's voice over the phone, his exhaustion clearly evident in his tone.

"It's Shuichi."

"What about Shuichi?"

"He's…gone."

--xXx--

ugh what a boring chapter. I'm sorry guys.

K I'm gonna go work on my other story now. See ya.

and I just got an idea for another story! But I want to finish the two I'm working on first. I got the idea from Sundays church sermon, weird huh. I should go to church more often, it inspires my writing. :D


	21. Chapter 21

A Gravitation Fan-Abandoned?! Never! I swear to you I will finish this fic…it just might take a while hehe.

DarkMetalAngle of Destruction- Thanks for reviewing, seriously, you review like every chapter, it's really nice.

Lilgurlanima- Shu has not gone far, as you will see in like two seconds. I would not tolerate him running away again.lol.

Secret25- I hurried as fast as I could! I promise! I hope you like this chapter and I'll try to update false light soon as well.

Yaoi-Lover-Yoko- Thanks for your three reviews, I'm glad you thought chapter 12 was cute. No worries, I'll finish this before starting anything else.

Lil1diva- I guess I didn't think about it like that. I think I thought it was boring because neither Shuichi nor Yuki were directly present in it. But now that I look at it your way, I think I agree with you. Thanks for pointing that out, I feel much better about that last chapter now! :D

Disclaimer: This is really getting on my nerves! I don't own Gravitation and never will!

--xXx--

"Don't say it."

"Say what? You're an idiot? I hate to break it to you Brandon but you kind of are."

"In my defense it was an easy mistake to make. He should have put this in a more noticeable place." Brandon exclaimed, gesturing to the note Shuichi had left on his pillow for Brandon, which read:

_Brandon,_

_I couldn't sleep so I went to the park. Please don't worry I'll be back by morning._

_Love,_

_Shu_

Sean raised his eyebrows at Brandon's comment but didn't remark on it. Instead he just turned and started walking out of the room. "I'm going to go sleep on the couch. If you wake me up again it had better be for a good reason or I will kill you."

Brandon stared at the letter a while longer before collapsing onto Shuichi's bed, falling asleep even before his head hit the pillow.

--xXx--

(Back to Shuichi, finally!!)

Shuichi woke up freezing cold lying on the hard, wooden park bench with the sun shining brightly into his face. He couldn't even remember when exactly he had fallen asleep but he seriously regretted it. He could definitely feel the symptoms of a bad cold coming on. He pulled his coat tighter against his small body and made his way back home. Last night Shuichi had made the decision to just forget everything and leave this whole disaster behind him. He had come to the conclusion that he and Yuki were just too different to ever succeed in a relationship together.

Shuichi forced himself into sitting position, ignoring the painful protests of his aching body; falling asleep on a rock hard park bench might not have been Shuichi's brightest idea. He started to head back in the direction of his apartment but suddenly stopped. Most likely Brandon and possibly Sean were at his place right now which meant he would have to put up with large amounts of pity from Brandon and an 'I Told You So' speech from Sean. Neither really seemed appetizing. Switching directions, he made his way down to the studio, stopping briefly at a convenience store for cold medicine and pain relievers.

--xXx--

_Ring………Ring_

Sean jolted awake, hitting the bruised side on the couch. Wincing from the pain he fumbled around for the phone which, unfortunately for him, was right next the couch, less than four inches from where his head was.

"Shuichi?" He inquired blearily into the phone after finding it.

_"Umm no. This is Adella. I take Shuichi isn't there, is he."_

"No." Sean said, slowly starting to wake up. "He said he would be back this morning though."

_"I see. This is Sean right? How have you been?"_

"I've been great. How about you? We haven't heard from you in a while." Sean said, suddenly realizing that Adella had not once contacted them since she left a week ago.

_"I wanted to, believe me! But for whatever reason Mr. Seguchi wouldn't let me. It probably had something to do with Yuki and Shuichi. Speaking of those two how are things going?"_

Sean was silent for a while. "Umm let's just say things aren't going to well."

_"Really? I thought for sure things would work out. What happened?"_

"It's complicated. Anyway, why did you want to talk to Shuichi if it wasn't about Yuki?" Sean said, quickly changing the subject.

_"Oh yes. I suppose I could tell you as well seeing as it does involve the band."_

"What is it?" Sean prompted, suddenly apprehensive about where this could go.

_"Mr. Seguchi arranged for you guys to do a tour in Japan. Although that might not be what Shuichi wants to do right now, huh?"_

Sean's eyes widened. A tour in Japan. Under different conditions this would have been one of the most amazing moments of his life. However, considering the mess he had created between Yuki and Shuichi this just made his life worse. "Umm 'Della when is this tour scheduled for?"

_"It's in about one week, why?"_

"One week!! That's not enough time! Who's deciding all of this and how come we haven't heard about it before?!"

_"I wanted to tell you guys, really I did, but as I said before Mr. Seguchi wouldn't let me call. He forbade anyone from saying anything."_

"Why? What's the point of that?" Sean hissed, suddenly feeling very angry, like a child who feels he's been treated unfairly.

_"I don't know! I never know what's going on in that guy's head!"_

Sean could tell he had offended Adella and immediately calmed down; he didn't need to have anyone else upset at him. "Sorry 'Della, I didn't mean to blame you. Anyway, I'll tell the guys about the tour. I guess I'll see you in a week then?"

_"Yeah. See you in a week."_

Sean replaced the phone onto it's hook and looked up to see Brandon standing in the doorway. "Did I hear right? I swore I just heard you talking on the phone about a tour, but that can't be right."

"No, that's right. That was Adella. Apparently we have a tour set up for us in Japan in one week."

Brandon let out a low whistle. "Wow. Shuichi's not gonna like that." Brandon frowned and looked around. "Speaking of Shuichi, where is he?" As if on cue Brandon's cell phone rang, the caller ID indicated that is was Shuichi.

Brandon flipped his phone open. "Hey Shu, how are you feeling."

_"I'm fine. I'm at the studio right now. Do you want to get Sean and come down?"_

"We still have a week off. Why are you at the studio?"

_"No reason. Just got a sudden urge to work I guess."_

As far as Brandon could tell from the way Shuichi was speaking, Shuichi knew nothing of the Japan tour. "Alright Shu, we'll be down in a bit." Brandon heard the phone click at the other end and closed his phone. "Shuichi wants us to meet him down at the studio. Do you want to shower and eat and then head down?"

Sean blinked, surprised that Brandon hadn't mentioned anything about the letter or last nights confession. "Sure. Sounds great." Hey, if Brandon wasn't going to remind him, he could just say he forgot, right?

"Oh Sean, don't forget to bring the letter!" Brandon said seriously. So much for forgetting.

"Yeah, yeah. I remember."

Thirty minutes later Brandon and Sean made it to the studio. Shuichi smiled at them as they entered the room, his expression rapidly turning to one of concern at the sight of Sean's face. "What happened to you, Sean? That looks painful."

"Oh…umm…last night at the bar I accidentally said something insulting to some girl and she hit me." Sean explained lamely, hoping Shuichi would buy the excuse.

"What about you Shu, you look…like hell. I'm not gonna lie." Brandon said changing for subject for Sean. It was true though, Shuichi's current appearance was that of a deathly little homeless boy. It probably didn't help that Shuichi had most definitely gotten sick from his night on the park bench and as a result had a runny nose and a headache. "You don't look too well."

"I'm fine. Really."

Brandon raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on Shuichi's forehead, retracting it almost immediately. "Fine my ass, you're burning up! What the hell were you thinking coming down here? Come on Sean, help me get him home."

The two men dragged their friend out of the building, ignoring his weak protests.

"Well maybe now they'll cancel the tour." Sean blurted out without thinking, earning an elbow in the ribs from Brandon.

Shuichi's incessant objections came to a sudden halt. "Tour?"

"It's nothing. Don't worry about." Brandon quickly tried to cover.

"No it isn't. Tell me." Shuichi said with a tone that left no room for argument.

Brandon gave Sean a meaningful look.

"I got a phone call from Adella this morning," Sean began, looking at Shuichi through the mirror he could see his friends perk up at the mention of his female roommate. "She said some guy named Seguchi had organized a tour for us over in Japan." Sean saw all excitement at hearing about Adella fade from Shuichi's face.

"The tour is in Japan?"

"Yeah. But I'm sure they'll cancel it since your sick." Sean said quickly. "So don't worry about it."

Shuichi didn't respond, not that it mattered since they had just pulled into the parking lot of Shuichi's apartment complex.

"Hey…what about my car?" Shuichi said, suddenly realizing they had all come back in one car.

"I'll go get!" Sean offered, grabbing the spare set of keys from the keybox near him.

"Do you need me to drive you down?" Brandon asked.

"No don't worry about it, I'll take a cab. You stay here and help Shuichi get better."

When Sean returned a bit later he found Brandon sitting at Shuichi's bedside reading a children's book to him. Sean smiled, for as long as he could remember Shuichi had made them read children's stories to him when he was sick. Not only that but Shuichi insisted on reading them to Brandon and Sean when they were sick. Brandon looked up from the book and caught sight of Sean. Closing the book (much to Shuichi's dismay) he got up and walked over to Sean

"Ok Sean, this is your chance. Go give him the letter." Brandon whispered softly so Shuichi wouldn't hear. And before Sean could argue at all Brandon had pushed him into the room and closed the door.

Sean looked over at Shuichi, but swiftly averted his gaze when they're eyes met; suddenly he didn't even have the courage to look Shuichi in the face.

"Sean is something the matter?"

Sean took a deep breath and made his way over to the bed, seating himself in the chair Brandon had only just vacated.

"Shuichi there's something I need to tell you. You see this bruise?" Shuichi nodded. "Well it wasn't a girl that hit me, it was Brandon." Shuichi opened his mouth to say something but Sean cut him off. "I assure you it was deserved."

"Sean that doesn't make sense. Brandon would never use violence." Shuichi said nervously, shifting uncomfortably in the bed. "What did you do?"

"I…It'smyfaultyouandYukibrokeup." Sean blurted out incoherently.

"What was that?" Shuichi whispered, hoping to God he had heard wrong. Sean was his best friend. There was no way he would do something like that, right?

"I broke you and Yuki up."

--xXx--

Alright. It is now 1am. I'm gonna go to bed. Hope you guys enjoyed to chapter. See ya! Apologies for any spelling/grammer mistakes.


	22. Chapter 22

Hey everyone! Sorry for the long wait. You have no idea how terrible I feel. College apps and preparing for my exchange have been time consuming and ridiculously stressful!!! Anyway I really hope you guys don't hate me and haven't given up on me!!! Hopefully now that my apps are done I'll have more time!

This is prolly pointless since you guys prolly don't even remember what you said to me but whatev

DarkMetalAngel of Destruction- Hey! First reviewer as usual lol. And we'll see who ends up hurt in this ;D

Lt-Tomoe87- Haha. Yeah I kinda like cliffhangers, the one in this chapter is pretty annoying as well :D

Yaoi-Lover-Yoko-I could never stop doing cliffhangers, I'm too mean- my friends even say I have a burned soul lol…yeah I don't really get it either….

A Gravitation Fan- Have I ever said I like your pen name? It's very straightforward. I like it. Yeah I have a weird obsession with drama in my writing. Ironically enough I have no stomach for it in real life lol.

Dreamsand- You're from the Netherlands?! Damn. That's badass. I'm going to be living kinda near there next year-I'm going to Norway through an exchange program. BTW your review made me very happy! So thank you!

Pombella4- I love your penname as well. It reminds me of Pom like the pomegranate juice brand, that stuff is so good!! Anyway I hope you're not disappointed with this chapter…

MiniBloodyMurder-haha…I think I shocked you.

Secret25- So I didn't exactly update very quickly…But at least you will see how Shuichi reacts now :D

Lilgurlanima- I don't know, you have to read it ;D

Lil1diva- Haha that would be damn hilarious if Shuichi and Sean eloped…but I have a feeling that if I did that, other people reading this would be out for blood. But then again it's not like they know where I live…lol

Sun's and Star's- I know, I can be quite unpredictable with my writing lol :P

Sapphire- Aw thanks! Haha yeah I think quite a few people were upset with where I ended it.

Pink Princess 911- Um definitely did not update soon. Sorry. I will next chapter though! And thanks for your review on chapter 12, it was really nice!

Ahpotterlvr-Aw thanks! If you haven't given up on this story then I hope you enjoys this chapter! :D

Jen- Thanks, that's good to hear. Sorry for making you wait though.

Hopefully I didn't miss anyone, I apologize if I did. Anyway thanks for reviewing and enjoy!!!

Disclaimer: I no own.

**---xXx---**

"_I broke you and Yuki up."_

Shuichi opened his mouth but his thoughts were too incoherent to allow a logical and complete sentence to form. Besides, what do you say to a friend who just told you they betrayed you?

"Please leave." Shuichi finally managed to choke out.

"Shuichi I—"

"I said leave, Sean!" Shuichi hissed, his voice sounding much stronger than before. Sean began to protest but was again cut off, this time by Shuichi rapidly shaking his head, indicating that whatever Sean had to say, he didn't want to hear it right now.

Sean gave a barely audible sigh of defeat and stood up pulling the now very bent letter out of his pocket. "He left this behind." Sean murmured softly, placing the letter on the bed stand next to Shuichi, who didn't once take his deadly glare off the blanket in front of him. "I really am sorry." Sean said in genuinely apologetic tone before quietly leaving the room. Shuichi's eyes flicked over to the letter. He could vaguely make out his name scrawled across it in Yuki's messy, writer's handwriting.

Shuichi turned his head away and let himself relax into the soft pillows, whether it was due to the remnants of his cold or Sean's sudden revelation, Shuichi suddenly felt like death. By the grace of some god Shuichi was finally able to fall into the depths of sleep, away from all the problems that were currently plaguing him.

**---xXx---**

Brandon groaned in frustration, for the past hour he had been relentlessly trying to cancel the bands impending tour in Japan but to no avail. "What do you mean you can't do anything about it? You're our manager aren't you? Then get us out of this!"

"I've been trying to explain this to you Brandon the contract that I signed with Mr. Seguchi can't be withdrawn. And you have yet to tell me why you want to cancel the tour so badly. If you ask me you're trying to destroy your best chance, and who knows, maybe even your only chance of becoming international stars."

"I don't care about becoming internationally famous." Brandon seethed, his voice filled with annoyance, "And I already told you why we can't go! Shu-Riley had a bad experience with a Japanese person." Brandon winced, suddenly realizing just how lame his argument was. Apparently he wasn't the only one judging from his manager's highly skeptical expression.

"So let me get this straight." The manager said, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the desk before him. "The reason you want me to cancel the tour is because of one bad experience Riley had?"

"Well…actually…" Brandon took a deep breath and said a silent prayer that Shuichi would forgive him. "You see Riley isn't really Riley. His real name is Shuichi, he's from Japan."

"Yes. I know. So what?" The manager said bluntly.

Brandon stared at his manager, shock etched all over his face "You –You know?" Brandon stuttered finally, "When did he tell you?"

"He didn't tell me. But do you seriously think we would sign someone without looking into their past at least a little bit?"

Brandon blushed lightly, feeling slightly stupid. "No, I guess not." He mumbled. Brandon sat for a while in silence, pondering what to do or say next. "How much do you know about him?"

"Not too much. The only reason we made the check in the first place was to be certain we didn't have some psychotic serial killer working for us." He said, leaning back in the chair. "We know he was the lead singer in a band called Bad Luck and that he also had some famous novelist boyfriend but that's about it."

"If you know that then why would you schedule a tour in Japan? He came over here to get away from Japan! Why would you want to send him back?"

"Look Brandon, I understand your concern for Riley but he's a tough guy, he can handle it. Besides who's to say that he'll even see his ex. Besides it's been three years! People change in that amount of time. Believe me, everything will be fine. The man I talked to assured me that he would make sure everything would go smoothly."

Brandon gave a final, resigned sigh and nodded his head; clearly there was no way that they were getting out of this, at least not with Brandon arguing alone. "Alright, fine. I'll go. But only if Shuichi wants to go." With that Brandon got up and stormed out of the building.

When Brandon got back to Shuichi's apartment he immediately noticed that Shuichi was awake due to the soft humming coming from his room; which, much to Brandon's relief, meant that Shuichi was feeling better. Brandon set about making a cup of Shuichi's favorite tea figuring that it wouldn't hurt to make Shuichi as happy as possible before telling him that the tour was definitely not an optional activity. He vaguely wondered what had happened with Sean but decided to ask later, when Shuichi wasn't under so much stress.

**--xXx--**

Shuichi looked up and smiled at Brandon who had just come through the door with his large cup of tea.

"So how are you feeling?"

"Never better, Brandon!" Shuichi said cheerfully, smiling brightly at his friend.

Brandon stared at his friend dubiously, not only had he just re-broken up with his old boyfriend he had also been betrayed by his friend, was currently sick, and now had to do a tour in Japan. "Shuichi…maybe I should rephrase that. Are you mentally ok?"

"I'm fine Brandon!" Shuichi said a little more seriously this time and Brandon thought he detected a hint of annoyance at Brandon's skeptical sarcasm.

"But what about the tour? Aren't you upset? I thought you planned to avoid that place for the rest of your life. I mean come on Shu! You didn't even like it when Sean and I mentioned Japan in passing conversation!" Brandon shut his mouth; he hadn't meant to ramble like that.

Shuichi squirmed and frowned, "That may have been true then, but at this point I couldn't really care less."

Now it was Brandon's turn to frown. The more he thought about it now Shuichi hadn't even seemed that upset when he first found out about it, a little surprised maybe but not mad.

Sensing Brandon's confusion Shuichi continued. "Think about it Brandon, there really is no reason for me to avoid it anymore. In fact this might be for the best. It's probably about time for me to go back anyway."

"Why?"

"I haven't spoken to my family in over three years, I don't want that to continue for the rest of my life." Shuichi said seriously.

Brandon smiled. "Shuichi, you never fail to surprise me." Looking around his eyes fell on the still unopened letter on Shuichi's bedside table. "You didn't read this yet?"

"Does it look opened to you?"

"But you are going to open it, aren't you?" Brandon pressed, ignoring Shuichi's sarcasm and nodding toward the envelope. Much to Brandon's surprise Shuichi just gave a small yet playful laugh.

"Worried much Brandon?" He asked with a grin.

Brandon briefly returned Shuichi's smile but nevertheless answered seriously. "Yes I am."

"Please don't be. Now if you don't mind all this excitement has made me sleepy."

Brandon took the hint and made for the door, taking Shuichi's half-drunk tea with him so he wouldn't knock it off the table in his sleep.

"Hey Brandon?" Shuichi called as Brandon started to leave the room.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for worrying about me. And taking care of me. It means a lot."

Brandon smiled, "You're welcome Shu." He whispered and softly closed the door.

Shuichi relaxed once more into his pillows, again staring at the letter. But this time, instead of falling asleep, he reached over and picked it up, sliding his finger beneath the seal to open it.

---xXx---

Um so my parents are having a party and they just gave me a full glass of champagne. I've discovered that alcohol, even just a little bit, makes me very happy. This is weird I can't stop laughing. Um bye.


	23. The notsoelegant return

So I'd really like to respond to all the reviews I got for this however I also just want to get this chapter out there, I've been working on during math class for a while now lol. But you guys left **AWESOME** reviews this time, that's right, awesome in all caps and bold. Anyway I loved them all, I am not joking when I say they are what inspire me to keep writing this. So thank you everyone who reviewed this story or added it to their alerts/favorites.

Disclaimer: see other chapters please

**--xXx--**

It wasn't that Shuichi necessarily wanted to read whatever Yuki had to say; in the end Sean's confession had made little impact on Shuichi's decision to forget Yuki. At least that's what he wanted to tell himself. Even so, Shuichi knew he had to read the letter; it was unavoidable if he wanted his conscience to stay guilt-free. He gave a small sigh, as if in defeat, and slid the letter out of the envelope and was slightly surprised when not one but two papers dropped into his waiting hand. He stared at the folded parchment for a while, torn between whether he should hope it was a letter ending things once and for all or hoping it held something more…interesting. After a long period of thought, Shuichi finally—albeit haltingly—unfolded the papers. Settling back into the pillows, Shuichi slowly began to read.

_Shuichi,_

_To be honest I never once suspected that we would be in this kind of predicament. I always assumed we would go on the same way we always had with you being your overly hyper and somewhat psychotic self. (Here Shuichi frowned, hyper he may be, psychotic he most definitely was not…right?) But then you left and now I can see why. I took you for granted, Shuichi, and for that I truly am sorry. I was too self-centered to see that you were suffering. And I hate to admit it, but Sean was right, you can do better than me. Even so I haven't given up. Shuichi, there's so much more I want to tell you but believe me it's only worth it if I can say it in person. _

_Yuki_

Shuichi stared at the letter in his hands in an exasperated yet slightly bemused manner; it seemed that god, or whatever being was in charge of his fate, had a penchant for fucking up his life…or maybe that was just Yuki. Shuichi re-read the last line again and gave a half-hearted smile, it was an ill-disguised attempt to lure Shuichi to him; a fact Shuichi was certain Yuki had been aware of when he wrote it. Either way he now found himself with a decision to make. His initial choice of moving on and forgetting everything about Yuki once and for all simply seemed wrong. Shuichi sighed and started to contemplate his next move when he suddenly noticed a note scrawled on the bottom of the page.

_Enclosed with this letter is something I was working on before you left. It's not finished; I didn't quite have the heart to work on it after you disappeared. Perhaps you could add the finishing touch? Shuichi frowned, quite confused as to what the second page held._

Shuichi tossed the top page onto the bed near his side and inspected the second page, his brow furrowed in confusion as he did so. The format looked like a poem but Yuki hated writing poetry, always said it was over-analyzed bullshit (which Shuichi had thought was just his way of saying he didn't really understand it). But Shuichi shrugged it off and started reading. About two lines in Shuichi felt his heart freeze and all the air rush from his chest as he realized just what it was that he was reading. It wasn't a poem at all but song lyrics. Shuichi quickly read the rest of the lyrics, barely taking any of it in. Yuki had written this for him? Shuichi felt a smile slowly spread across his face and with it the first true happiness he had felt in weeks flooded his body. He grabbed a pen from his bedside table and began to finish what Yuki had started. There were only four more days until they left for Japan and Shuichi had so much to do. He paused, abruptly remembering he had yet to speak to Sean. Deciding he would go visit after he finished this little project, Shuichi turned back to his work; Inspiration like this was hard to come by.

**--xXx--**

The moment he heard the door being opened Shuichi looked up, his purple eyes immediately connecting with Sean's blue ones—but only for a brief moment as Sean quickly averted his gaze.

Shuichi could sense that Sean was a little incapacitated right then so instead of waiting politely to be invited inside, he asked himself.

"Can I come in?" Sean hesitantly nodded and stepped aside, giving Shuichi just enough space to pass by him and enter the apartment.

"I'll be honest, I didn't expect to see you again so soon. I even questioned if I would _ever_ see you again." Sean said once he found his voice.

A light smile briefly graced Shuichi's face and he flopped back down onto the taupe colored couch and motioned for Sean to sit down next to him.

"I have to say really didn't want to forgive you. Not at first anyway. Even now there's a part of me saying I should never forgive you. But Sean, you've been my best friend for three years. It would be stupid of me to end our friendship just because of this. You were doing what you thought was best for me; I could never hold that against you. Perhaps I should even be thanking you."

Sean's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What do you mean?" Shuichi just shrugged and grinned mysteriously back at him. Sean's curiosity lasted but a moment as his mind went back to another thing Shuichi had said _'you were doing what you thought was best for me.'_ If only he knew. However Sean had decided that, at this particular point in time, it was in everyone's best interest if Sean kept his affections to himself. As much as it killed him there was too much on the line to make a gamble like that worthwhile.

"Thanks Shuichi."

"For what?" Shuichi asked, genuinely confused, at least as far as Sean could tell.

"For giving me a second chance."

"Oh come on Sean, do you think I could really hate you after everything we've been through? You saved me. I would probably be starving on some street corner if you and Brandon hadn't taken me in." Shuichi said with a playful yet honest smile.

"Yeah…" Sean said distantly, distracted by the thought that was slowly forming in his mind. "Hey Shuichi?"

"Yeah?"

"That morning at breakfast…" Sean began, watching Shuichi's face carefully.

"Uh huh…"

"You said that you were attacked and Yuki defended you. What exactly happened with that?"

Shuichi squirmed a little on the couch, as he was not fully comfortable with the conversation. "Well it's kind of a long story…but if you must know the leader singer from a rival band didn't really like me too much and, put simply, he had some thugs…molest me while he took pictures. To make things worse not only did he threaten my career by using the pictures as blackmail, but he also threatened Yuki's career and reputation as well if I tried to go back to singing. I was all ready to quite my job and leave Yuki alone, this was right after Yuki and I had had a fight mind you so he was unaware of the whole ordeal. At least he was until Hiro told him about it. The next thing I heard was that Yuki was heading over to Aizawa's place. By the time I got there…well let's just say it wasn't pretty, I don't even want to think about what would have happened had I not shown up when I did…" Shuichi trailed off looking thoughtful before he suddenly remembered that his little anecdote had had an audience and he grinned at Sean. "But that's all in the past, right?"

"Shuichi I—"

"Anyway." Shuichi interrupted, "Do you think you could maybe come down to the studio? I have a new song I'd like to perform while we're over in Japan. I know it's last minute and all but I think you and Brandon can manage to come up with suitable music."

Sean glanced over at Shuichi and started to say something but the look that he was receiving from Shuichi clearly stated that what had happened was in the past and should therefore stay in the past. "Sure Shuichi. I'll be down there in a bit."

The whole atmosphere around Shuichi immediately brightened and he gave his friend a quick hug. "Thanks Sean! You're the best! I'll see you down there then!"

"Yeah, see ya."

**--4 days later--**

Shuichi's stomach flip-flopped but whether it was from nerves or excitement, he couldn't tell. Regardless, in less than ten minutes, according to the flight attendant, he would be back in Japan and there was nothing he could do about it. For all the meaning it held, the flight had been relatively uneventful. Brandon and Sean, whose injuries had healed— save for the black eye which was artfully disguised with cover-up, had spent the first three hours interrogating Shuichi on Japanese culture and asking him to teach them various phrases, most of which were rather inappropriate. However they had finally gotten tired, the many hours they had spent perfecting Shuichi's new song, and had fallen asleep leaving Shuichi alone to ponder.

All too soon it seemed, the plane had landed and the band and company were standing in Narita airport with their luggage, feeling tired, lost, and a bit confused.

"So... do we know where we're going?" Brandon asked. His question was followed by a long, awkward silence and everyone slowly turned their attention to the band's manager.

"Well, you see, Mr. Seguchi just said he would send someone to pick us up and that he had already made all the arrangements for us. He was very vague on the specifics…"

"So let me get this clear, you don't even know the name of the person who is supposed to meet us here?"

"He's a very cryptic man!"

Shuichi had to smile at the truth in his manager's defensive words. Looking around, he noticed the area where people stood at the arrivals gate with signs. He started to point this out to the rest of the group when a rather powerful force came flying into his left side, nearly sending him to the ground.

"RILEY!!!!"

Shuichi tried to look down at the girl who had latched onto his neck before finally realizing who it was and returning the embrace. "Della! How've you been?"

"I've been great! It was such a shock when Mr. Seguchi changed his plans and invited me to Japan, but it's been a wonderful experience! How about yourself?" Adella asked cautiously.

"Eh I've been better." Shuichi said with a shrug. Adella just nodded understandingly and moved on to greet Sean and Brandon.

After all the pleasantries had been taken care of, Adella led the troupe to three waiting cars and the group was soon on their way to the hotel, with Adella, Shuichi, Sean, and Brandon joking and reminiscing all the way there.

The four friends soon found themselves relaxing in the hotel suite Brandon, Sean, and Shuichi would share. The three Americans lounged on the couches, talking and laughing contentedly while Shuichi sat off to the side completely zoned.

"Hey Brandon, Sean, would you guys mind going and asking our manager what our schedule is for the next few days?" Shuichi said suddenly, startling his three companions not just because he had finally spoken, but also because both Brandon and Sean knew for a fact that Shuichi was well aware of their itinerary, having watched him study it for a good two hours.

"Come on, Sean. " Brandon said, taking the hint. "Let's go. We can stop on the gift shop on our way back; I saw they had some katanas and I know you wanted to get one."

"Alright…" Sean said, sounding a little reluctant. Nonetheless both men quickly exited the room without further complaint.

"So Riley… Do you want to tell me what happened?" Adella inquired curiously.

"Not really, at least not now. I was kinda wondering if you had met Hiro though. And you can call me Shuichi now, Brandon and Sean both do."

"Hiroshi Nakano? Yeah I met him. I practically forced Mr. Seguchi to introduce me to him; After all I had to see my competition for position of Shuichi's best friend." Adella said jokingly.

Shuichi grinned at his friend. "Oh really?"

"Yeah, though I think this might be a losing battle for me." Adella said with a soft smile.

"Never thought I would see the day when Adella Ribeiro would admit defeat."

"Well there's a first time for everything." Adella stated with a shrug.

"Yeah.." A silence ensued, Adellla knew what Shuichi wanted yet stayed quiet, knowing that Shuichi would ask on his own time.

"Do you think that it would be at all possible to arrange a lunch date with him?"

"Of course my dear, anything for you. When would you like to have it?"

"Ask him if he's free tomorrow." Adella nodded pulling out herself and flipping through her contacts. "But Adella, could you pretend that it will be you he's meeting with?"

Adella gave him a confused look but nodded once again, opting not to say anything as the phone was already calling the selected number. Shuichi swallowed, suddenly feeling very nervous and very glad that it wasn't him doing the talking. Part of him wanted to leave the room but another, more dominate, part refused to let him. Thankfully, at that time Brandon and Sean returned from their brief excursion carrying two katanas and a variety of other gifts they had purchased. Their excitement over their new acquisitions offered Shuichi a perfect distraction, though he couldn't stop the occasional glances over at Adella.

Adella finally rejoined the trio with a satisfied grin on her face. "Shuichi you have a date tomorrow at 12:30 at Viron. It's a small little French café located in Shibuya on—"

"I know where it is. Hiro and I used to go there all the time." Shuichi explained with relieved smile; at least they would be meeting in a familiar place.

**--xXx--**

Shuichi sat at a small table for two located near the back of the café, drumming his fingers nervously on the black-lacquered tabletop. He adjusted his hat and sunglasses and sighed; he had showed up and hour early for a reason he couldn't quite decipher. Quite abruptly Shuichi leaned forward and smacked his head against the table, upsetting a young waitress who had been standing nearby. He had spent the past hour trying to decide if Hiro would be angry at him or just glad to see him again and was now starting to feel a little overwhelmed. Shuichi's head quickly jerked upward as he heard the jingling of the chime on the front door as it was opened. Shuichi took a deep breath as he saw his best friend, or former best friend depending on what happened, enter the restaurant. He watched intently as Hiro approached one of the waitresses and whispered something to her. The girl nodded and pointed in the direction of Shuichi's table. Hiro looked over and frowned before turning back to the girl and saying something else. She simply shrugged and went about her business. Shuichi's gaze never left Hiro as he watched him carefully make his way through the tables with bated.

"Hello. Do I know you?" Hiro asked, not making any move to sit down.

Shuichi could only manage a brief half-smile and a single nod. At some point he must of stood up but he had no recollection of when.

"Ok…" When it was clear that the man across from him wouldn't elaborate any more, Hiro switched subjects. "So where's Adella?"

"She's fine." Shuichi finally managed to say. "Probably out with Brandon and Sean causing mischief."

Hiro stared at the brown-haired man in alarm, barely able to comprehend what he had just heard. "…Shuichi? You're Shuichi, aren't you." Hiro whispered, hardly daring to believe it.

Shuichi smiled nervously and pulled off his hat and sunglasses. "Hello Hiro." Before Shuichi even had time to blink he found himself trapped in a tight yet comforting embrace and Shuichi suddenly realized how silly he had been to think that Hiro would actually hate him. The two men stayed like, completely oblivious to the commotion they were causing in the little café.

Shuichi finally slid from Hiro's grasp and smiled up at him. He was shocked to notice the hint of tears that glistened in the corners of his friend's eyes and Shuichi couldn't help but laugh when he realized that he, too, had tears in his eyes.

"You'd think we were a couple of girls the way we're acting." Hiro just grinned and ruffled Shuichi's hair fondly. A bright flash of light startled both men, making them very much aware of their current situation. Every single face in the café was turned toward them; most people had their cellphones or cameras out and were furiously taking pictures or calling friends. There was a soft murmur spreading through the crowd that Shuichi and Hiro could barely catch snippets of.

"_Shuichi Shindou?"_

"_Yeah, and the other one is Hiro…"_

"_I thought he was dead…" _

"_I heard he had moved to the Bahamas."_

Shuichi sighed. "You know," he whispered to Hiro, "I had hoped my return would be a little more elegant than this." Hiro didn't even try to hold back his laugh.

**--xXx--**

Ah I love Spring Break, I finally have time to be an obsessive fangirl again :P


	24. Chapter 24

**MiniBloodyMurder**-lol

**Island Honey**-haha not gonna lie my favorite thing to do with my writing is make it annoyingly suspenseful-good to know it's working.

**Lilgurlanima**-perhaps ;D

**Kaoru Sayuri Kamiya**- glad you liked…this chapter, however, is not as long as it should be unfortunately

**Dreamsand**-THANK YOU!!! That review made me really happy!!

**Lil1diva**-I would definitely be taking pictures too, you would have to be crazy not to!

**Chochowilliams**-thanks! Shuichi is always adorable!…I'm so jealous of him lol. I agree with you, it was definitely and unconscious decision but nonetheless it was his decision

**EmoLollipop**-lol I'm glad someone appreciated that line.

**RiverSakina**-Thanks! Glad you were satisfied with it!

**DarkMetalAngel of Destruction**-thanks! You'll be glad to know that Yuki makes an appearance in this chapter

**Pombella4**-hmmm performing? We'll see…;)

**Sun's and stars**- I know. I try ;P

Disclaimer: see other chapters

**--xXx--**

"Only you, Shuichi, would cause such an uproar." Hiro said, still laughing over the recent events. Once they had finally been able to respond to the situation, they had quickly evacuated the building, jumped into Hiro's car and were currently on their way to his home.

"Oh come on! If you hadn't freaked out and started crying, this wouldn't have happened."

"Of course. Whatever you say dear." Hiro said in a voice that was overly sweet, as he reached over to tousle Shuichi's hair. Shuichi turned to glare at his friend and as he did something shiny caught his eye.

"Hiro! When did you get married?! Wait a second…Who did you marry?"

"I proposed to Ayaka about two years ago and we were married a few months later in April; which means our two-year anniversary is coming up." Hiro said proudly.

Shuich smiled at his friend, glad that at least one of them had found happiness. "Well congrats. I bet next you're going to be telling me you're expecting a kid." Shuichi said jokingly.

"Yeah…haha"

Shuichi gave his friend a suspicious look. "You're expecting a kid, aren't you?"

"Not so much expecting as much as already have one."

Shuichi's mouth dropped open. This he had not been prepared for. "I guess I've really missed a lot, huh." Shuichi whispered with the faintest trace of bitterness.

Hiro gave his friend a reassuring smile. "Don't worry Shu, you'll catch up quick enough."

"Yeah…" Apparently Hiro didn't know he was only staying for a couple weeks. "Are they home?" Shuichi asked, changing the subject.

"Not right now. At least they shouldn't be. Ayaka wanted to take little Haru-chan to the park with…his godfather." Shuichi couldn't help but feel a little relieved that he wouldn't have to meet the whole Nakano family right away.

"Haru. So a boy then?" Hiro nodded in affirmation. "How old is he?"

"18 months." Hiro said, barely able to keep the fond smile from his face. And as happy as he was for his friend, Shuichi couldn't seem to keep a little bit of sadness from seeping into his heart.

"We're here!" Shuichi blinked, not even aware that he had been in a daze. He looked out the window at house, which, by Japanese standards, was rather large.

"Aya wanted us to have a proper home for Haru to grow up in." Hiro explained after seeing the shocked yet impressed look on Shuichi's face. "Can I offer you anything to drink?" He asked, changing the subject; he wanted to talk about Shuichi, not about himself.

"Sure. It's been a while since I've had authentic Japanese tea!" Shuichi replied with a grin.

"Tea it is then. Follow me."

Hiro lead the way into a spacious kitchen complete with a large bay window that looked out into the front garden and the street. The kitchen, much like the rest of the house that Shuichi had seen on the way in, was clean but clearly well used. Not much was said while Hiro fixed the tea. Shuichi offered to help but Hiro just laughed and told him to stay seated. Shortly after that Shuichi realized that he had no idea where anything was and would probably become more of a hindrance than help.

Soon enough the tea was done and once each man had a cup of the hot drink in front of him, Hiro deemed it time to get the answers he had been searching for the last few years.

"So then, are you going to tell what you've been up to the past three years or will I have to play the guessing game?" Hiro asked jokingly, though Shuichi easily caught the serious undercurrent in his tone.

"Just living, really." Shuichi said with a shrug and a smile.

Hiro threw his friend an annoyed look. "Wow Shu, I never knew you were so good at telling stories. I think this could be a prospective profession for you."

Shuichi laughed at his friend's obvious sarcasm. "Alright, alright. I'll tell you."

Shuichi slowly began to recount the last three years of his life to his best friend, starting with him leaving Japan and changing his name. He didn't go into extreme detail but he made certain not to leave anything of importance out – not even his most recent experience with Yuki. Throughout Shuichi's spiel, Hiro remained silent; whether that was because he was holding his questions until the end or he simply didn't have any, Shuichi wasn't sure. But whatever the reason, Shuichi found himself more than a little relieved by Hiro's lack of interruptions as it made it easier for Shuichi to focus on what he was saying. Shuichi only touched lightly on the subject of the success of his new band; he couldn't help but feel that he had somehow betrayed Hiro.

Once he had finished, Shuichi found himself staring fixedly on a glass-paneled wooden cabinet; he couldn't quite bring himself to look his friend in the eye.

"Shuichi. There's one thing I still don't quite understand."

"What?" Shuichi asked, finally turning his gaze back to Hiro.

"Why exactly did you leave in the first place?"

The pause that ensued seemed to stretch for hours as Shuichi tried to find the words to explain himself. "I…I think I just needed something new."

"…So for that reason you just up and left without telling anyone? Please tell me there's more to this, because even you aren't…weren't that extreme."

"Well…Yuki and I, for a long time it felt like we were in a stasis. Not really moving forward in our relationship, you know? In fact it almost seemed like we were moving backwards. So, I thought it would be best if we…"

"Broke-up?"

Shuichi nodded.

"You know, nowadays we usually just tell the person we want to stop seeing them, it's not common practice to leave the country completely."

Shuichi smiled at his friends attempt to lighten the mood and make him feel better. "I know Hiro. I tried to talk to him a couple times but he didn't seem to want to listen and I was too much of coward to try to force him to hear me. And I couldn't stay with him – it was too hard. But at the same time I didn't ever want to have to see him with anyone else. So I left."

"I can't say I fully understand your reasoning but I'm not going to say you were wrong to do something like that."

"Thanks Hiro."

"However, I do think that Yuki cared for you more than anyone – even Tohma – realized."

"I know." Shuichi said quietly.

"You know. Then why did you reject him when he came to the United States?"

Shuichi fidgeted nervously but just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, the sound of the front door being opening and closing made him stop.

"I'll explain some other time." Shuichi mumbled as Ayaka's voice echoed down the hall accompanied by a very familiar male one that made Shuichi's heart freeze for a moment and then start beating rapidly..

"Hiro."

"Yeah?"

"Who exactly is Haru's godfather?" Hiro shifted uncomfortably but then the voice got clearer and Shuichi's question was answered.

"Oh never mind. Let's just get out of here." Shuichi said hurriedly, jumping off his stool and running over to pull Hiro from his – though that proved unsuccessful.

"Shuichi, don't you want to – "

"No! Not here, not now. Please Hiro, can we just go?"

Hiro took one look at Shuichi's pleading face and relented.

"Fine, follow me."

--xXx--

"That's strange." Ayaka said as she entered the kitchen, shifting a sleeping Haru from one arm to the other. "I could have sworn I heard Hiro's voice in here. Perhaps all of this late night baby care is finally getting to me." She said with a laugh. Yuki gave her a small smile in return and gently lifted Haru from her arms.

"No, I don't think so." He jerked his head in the direction of the bay window and Ayaka glanced out it just in time to see Hiro's car speed out of view. She thought she saw the form of another person in the passenger seat but the car was moving too quickly for her to be certain.

"Was he with someone?" She wondered aloud.

Yuki nodded his head, still staring out the window at where the car had turned and disappeared.

"Whom would he be with that he wouldn't want to…oh." Ayaka gave Yuki a worried glance. As much as he claimed that he was fine Ayaka knew differently. She had watched him struggle the past three years; she knew how hard it had been for him and how hard it would be if he lost Shuichi again.

"Everything will work out right in the end. You know that, don't you? You two are meant to be together."

Yuki turned his focus back onto Ayaka and gave her a ghost of a smile. "We'll see."

**--xXx--**

A/N: so I'm not completely satisfied with this chapter. There seems to be something wrong with it but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is…believe me I've been trying. So if there was something about this chapter that bothered you tell me and I'll fix it.

But we got to see Yuki for like…5 seconds…yay?


	25. Chapter 25

Don't kill me. Please don't kill me. I am SO sorry about the 6th month break. But I'm sure everyone will be glad to know that this is the second to last chapter :D So you only have to put up with my lazy habits for one more chapter haha

Umm so I realized something while writing this chapter…it seems I never specified what Sean or Brandon or Adella look like, although I really thought I had. Anyway, if you already have a mental image what they look like then keep it and ignore the part where I mention how they look, if you don't then here:

**Brandon**: Tall, slender and tan w/ longish light brown hair—kind of surfer boy style, and green eyes

**Sean**: Shorter than Brandon but taller than Shuichi, fair skinned, dark brown- almost black hair that is short and usually styled in a short, spiky Mohawk with light bluish/gray eyes

**Adella**: Tan, long blackish hair, dark brown eyes.

Disclaimer: Gravitation belongs to Murakami, yes we know that so can we stop doing these stupid disclaimer things yet?

--xXx--

The drive to Shuichi's hotel was quite frustrating for Hiro. Try as he might he couldn't get a single comment on the current status of Shuichi's relationship with Yuki. His formerly pink haired friend stayed silent, staring thoughtfully out the window for a majority of the car ride and Hiro wasn't sure if that was a good sign or a bad one.

"Hey Hiro…" Shuichi said, finally speaking as the pulled into the hotel parking lot.

"Yes?" Hiro responded quickly, hoping that his friend was going to tell him what went on with Yuki.

"Would… you like to come meet Brandon and Sean?"

Hiro turned to Shuichi in surprise, he had kind of gotten the feeling that Shuichi didn't really want Hiro to interact with his new band; probably thought it would hurt his feelings or something of the sort.

"I'd love to, Shu."

"Really?" Shuichi asked brightening up considerably.

Hiro smiled and nodded.

"Thank you Hiro! This means a lot to me! One thing though."

"What is it?"

"How good is your English?"

"I'd like to think it's decent, why?"

"Good! Because their Japanese sucks!"

--xXx--

"Sean! Brandon!" Shuichi called, poking his head through the door to their suite before stepping all the way in with Hiro right behind.

"Shuichi!" One of them called, Shuichi wasn't quite sure which. There was a distinct noise of people scrambling to get up quickly and then before Shuichi and Hiro could even make to the end of the entrance way, Sean and Brandon were suddenly standing in front of them, very much out of breath.

Shuichi blinked, looking at his friends in shock at their strange behavior. "This is Brandon." He said motioning toward the one with shaggy brownish-blonde hair. "And this is Sean." He pointed to the other one with short, spiky dark hair. "Sean, Brandon, this is—."

"Hiro. We know." Both boys chorused at once.

Shuichi gave them both a confused stare.

"There's pictures of you guys hugging all over the news, someone even caught it on tape and now that stations are practically just playing it on repeat." Brandon explained.

"Oh yeah… I forgot about that."

Brandon, Sean and Hiro all rolled their eyes.

"Our manager is ecstatic though! He said all of our concerts sold out within ten minutes of the news being broadcast!" Sean exclaimed excitedly. For Shuichi, however, the news only made him more stressed for the upcoming concerts; he wasn't sure he would be what his fans were expecting.

"_Anyway_," Brandon cut in, indicating that there was something important Sean was ignoring, "we got a call from this Tohma Seguchi guy, said you better call you family. And I have to say I agree with him, they're probably wanting to hear from you."

Shuichi's eyes widened, he hadn't even thought about how his family would react to his sudden reappearance. He had planned to go talk to them tomorrow, however if the rest of Japan knew he was alive and back in home, they surely knew as well.

"You go call them, Shu." Sean said, gently pushing Shuichi in the direction of the phone. "We'll entertain Hiro while you're busy; there's something we want to ask him anyway…"

Shuichi gave Brandon and Sean a suspicious look. On one hand he was still unwilling to trust Sean completely, but on the other hand he knew that Brandon was far too honest and noble to do anything underhanded. "Very well…" he said slowly. "I'll be out in a bit." Brandon and Sean just smiled and nodded at him encouragingly and one glance at Hiro told Shuichi he was fine with the situation.

Shuichi chose to use one of the phones in a different room so his conversation would not disturb that of his three friends and vice versa. It was only when Shuichi was sitting with the phone in his hand, prepared to dial that he realized it was quite possible that his parents' number was no longer the same. Shrugging it off Shuichi punched in the number; he would find out soon enough.

The phone didn't even give half a ring before it was picked up.

"_Hello?"_ A female voice echoed over the line, one he hadn't heard in ages but could never in his life forget.

"Maiko?"

There was a long pause on the other line and Shuichi wasn't sure if his phone had died or his sister wasn't talking to him. Finally he heard a voice again, though this time it was different, yet still very familiar.

"_Shuichi, honey is that you?"_

Shuichi swallowed, the sound of his mother's voice on the other end had made it suddenly quite difficult to talk. "Hi mom." He said finally, fighting to keep his emotions in check. "How've you been?"

"_Alright. But I'm better now that your back."_ His mother's voice was soft and shaky and it took Shuichi a moment to realize that she was probably crying.

"Would it be alright if I came to see you? I'd rather discuss things with you in person."

There was another silence, shorter this time and Shuichi got the distinct feeling that his mother was trying to pull herself together. _"Of course dear. There's nothing I'd love more."_

"Is now too soon?"

This time his mother's response was immediate and her message quite clear. _"Now is perfect."_

"Then I'll be over as soon as I can."

"_Alright sweetie, see you soon."_

"Yeah, see you soon."

"_Shuichi!" _His mom's sudden call stopped him from putting the phone back on the receiver.

"Yeah?" He asked, putting the phone back to his ear.

"_We're so glad you're back. …It's just like he promised."_ The last part was said so quietly that Shuichi wasn't positive he had heard right. But before he could ask for clarification, his mother had bid farewell and hung up.

Upon re-entering the main room, Shuichi was greeted with the sight of his three best friends sitting in a circle, deep in discussion.

"Ummm sorry to interrupt your little pow-wow here, but I just wanted to let you know I'm going to visit my family for a little while. …What were you guys talking about?"

"Nothing important." Sean said quickly, a little too quickly in Shuichi's opinion, but he decided he didn't really feel like pressing the subject.

"Want me to drive you?" Hiro asked, standing up as if Shuichi had already consented.

"No thanks Hiro, I think I'll just take a cab. Besides, you guys all look kind of busy right now, so I'll just be on my way."

Hiro smiled and nodded. "They'll be happy to see you, Shu."

--xXx--

Brandon absent mindedly swirled the contents of his glass around in circles, watching the liquid change from amber to dark reddish brown to black as the light hit it from different angles. It was quite late-too late in fact for Shuichi to be gone this long without coming home or at least calling to say what was going on. Sean had been near crazy with worry, coming up with completely ridiculous scenarios that generally involved kidnap and ransom by crazy fangirls. It was the when a rabid bear somehow ended up in the mix that Brandon had decided it would be best if Sean got some sleep and forced him to go to bed after promising to wake him as soon as Shuichi returned. Brandon had no doubt that Shuichi was safe, wherever he was. The one thing he was worried about was his friend's mental wellbeing. He picked up his phone, toying with the idea of calling his friend for what seemed like the millionth time only to place it back on the table once more. For all he knew Shuichi could just be having a happy family reunion that was lasting later than expected and Brandon was in no position to intrude on that. The more he considered it, the conclusion became more and more likely. He was just about to switch off the light and go to bed when the soft click of a hotel room being unlocked drifted across the room. He twisted around on the couch so that he could greet his friend with a smile but stopped when he saw the lost and vacant expression that was spread across Shuichi's face. Shuichi wandered into the room slowly, as if he was just walking wherever his feet wanted to go with no real direction of his own. Finally, after watching Shuichi sit at the other end of the couch and gaze into space for at least 5 minutes, Brandon figured enough was enough.

"Shuichi?" Brandon called softly, carefully making his way closer to the lost looking man. Unsurprisingly there was no response. After a few more unsuccessful attempts to get Shuichi's attention, Brandon was getting ready to shake some sense into him when he released a soft sigh.

"Brandon…do you think I'm a bad person?"

Brandon blinked, surprised that Shuichi had, in fact, known he was there. "…What?"

Shuichi's expression shifted to a troubled one. "It's just…I can't help but feel that maybe something's wrong with me-"

"Shuichi there is nothing wrong with you! Now tell me what the hell happened to make you start thinking this." Brandon exclaimed, now that he completely comprehended the conversation (omg alliteration! …can you tell I'm proud).

"I don't know!" Shuichi exclaimed, throwing himself sideways into the armrest of the couch and hugging a pillow close to his body.

Brandon gave an inaudible sigh, he knew where this was going and to be honest he really didn't want to deal with it. "Shuichi we can play this game for hours but we both know that eventually you will tell me. So why don't you just man up and tell me now so I can help you."

Shuichi glared over the top of the pillow at his friend slightly annoyed at the bluntness of his statement. But, as usual, Brandon was right. "Fine, fine." He said, sitting upright once more though he was still clutching the pillow.

"As I was leaving my parents house this evening, Maiko, my sister, walked me out to my cab and she told me something… after I left, mom was hospitalized." Shuichi stopped there, Brandon put a comforting arm around Shuichi's shoulders, encouraging his friend to continue in the best way he knew how.

"She's gotten better over the past year according to Maiko…thanks to Yuki. Maiko doesn't know what he said to her; all she could tell me was that he was in her hospital room talking to her for about an hour alone before leaving and by the following week she was showing signs of improvement."

The two sat in silence for a short period of time before Brandon decided to take it back to the beginning. "So, enlighten me…how exactly does this make you a bad person?"

"How could it not!? I caused my mom so much pain-not just my mom even, my whole family! I was so selfish! And Yuki! He helped them even though he may not have necessarily liked them, he did it regardless for me… And I've been such an idiot about this whole thing."

"Shuichi, none of that makes you a bad person. And as for Yuki. Why not talk to him?"

Shuichi sighed, "I don't know if I have the courage for that anymore. I had the chance to earlier today and I just…panicked and ran. I've judged him too harshly; I couldn't see what he had done for me."

"No, you didn't know what he had done for you. There's a difference. Now, please, stop your moping and at the very least apologize to him if not declare your undying love." Brandon said, putting as much dramatics into the end of the sentence as possible and hoping that Shuichi would not get offended. Thankfully his gamble paid off as Shuichi smiled for the first time that evening.

"You're right, I should talk to him. Besides, I'd rather not have any more regrets in this life." In the blink of an eye Shuichi was up from the couch and heading towards the door.

"Wait, you're going now?! It's half past one in the morning!"

"Yep! No time like the present!" Shuichi said, shooting Brandon a grin before exiting the room.

"Dear god that boy is going to be the death of me." Brandon muttered to himself before curling up on the couch and falling asleep, too tired to make it into the bedroom.

--xXx--

For the second time that night, Shuichi found himself standing before a familiar door and once again unsure of whether or not it was the right door. He had considered calling Hiro and asking if the blonde novelist had moved or not but…if Yuki had indeed been searching for him the past three years like he said, then wouldn't it make sense that he stay in the same spot in case Shuichi ever returned? Confident he was right, Shuichi raised his fist and knocked three times. The ensuing wait seemed to take hours and yet as soon as the door was pulled open, he was convinced it had been far too short.

Judging from Yuki's expression, it was clear that Shuichi had been the last person he was expecting to see on the other side of that door. The two men stared at each other in a silence that was not altogether awkward but far from comfortable. Finally Yukie reacted.

" I may be going out on a limb here…but I'm assuming that if you're showing up here at two in the morning, you have something to say."

"Hi, sorry if I woke you, I just…wanted…to talk." The whole time he was speaking, Shuichi was suddenly realizing that perhaps 1:30 (...or was it 2 now) in the morning was not the best time to visit your ex just so you could explain to them that it was, in fact, not their fault that they had "cheated" on you. And that it had been instead been because of an overly protective friend trying to do what he thought was right. Joy. And then of course apologizing for not believing him in the first place.

"Come in." Yuki said, standing aside so Shuichi could pass by easily. "I wasn't sleeping, just working."

Shuichi stepped into the flat, and for a moment it felt like he had gone back in time 3 years. Everything in the apartment was much the same as it had been when he left and the nostalgic feeling that accompanied the scene was both painful and calming. His eyes lingered for a time on random furnishings in the room before he moved to join Yuki on the soft, taupe colored couch. As soon as he was able to break his attention away from his surroundings he took a deep breath and looked straight into Yuki's patient, but clearly curious expression.

"You remember the night you left?"

Yuki didn't respond for a while, opting instead to simply regard Shuichi through his thinly framed glasses for some moments.

"What about it?"

"Well...a couple things. First off I feel that I owe you an apology. I…overreacted to say the least, I'm sorry."

Yuki shook his head in disagreement. "It's fine, were I in your position I probably would have acted the same way, if not worse."

Shuichi smiled, somehow he doubted that. Ignoring Yuki's curious look at his reaction, Shuichi continued. "Also I think you should know something… That night…you were kind of set up…"

This statement got an instant reaction out of Yuki who slammed his glass onto the table. "It was that bastard friend of yours, wasn't it?! I knew I shouldn't have trusted him!"

"Yuki please, calm down. Sean was only doing what he thought was best for me!"

Yuki's anger didn't seem to lessen any and Shuichi could practically feel the struggle to control it when he spoke next. "So. How did you find this one out?"

"He told me…a day or so after you left. But Yuki…didn't you talk to him after we fought?"

"What? No. Why the hell would I have any desire to talk to him?"

Shuichi sat very still, pondering and feeling very much confused, how had Sean gotten a hold of the letter than? Could Sean have forged it? No…he knew Yuki's handwriting anywhere and there was no way Sean could get a sample of it much less copy any of the Japanese symbols-he had seen some attempts, they were positively horrendous. But beside that there was now another question, since Yuki clearly didn't know that Shuichi had the letter and song lyrics (and now he wasn't entirely sure where they had come from) should he or should he not bring it up to Yuki?

"Oi! Shuichi! You still with me?"

"What? Huh? Yeah…."

Yuki glanced at Shuichi skeptically, but avoided making any sarcastic comments.

"So, that it then?"

Shuichi nodded, still slightly dazed, before beginning to shake his head rapidly. "No, actually, I was wondering if you had…" Shuichi paused, trying to find the best way to phrase his question, but a better idea came into mind. "Planned on coming to my concert on Friday."

Yuki looked slightly taken back, clearly he had been expecting something more dramatic than this.

"I haven't decided." He said honestly.

"Well, if it helps any, I'd like it if you came." Shuichi said, doing his best to sound sincere and not desperate

Yuki was staring at Shuichi suspiciously and it was easy to see that he was burning to ask why, but instead he just nodded his in assent.

Shuichi smiled briefly while saying a silent prayer that this endeavor wouldn't blow up in his face and then quickly made an exit, suddenly very determined that Friday's concert be the best ever.

--xXx--

As soon as he entered the hotel suite, Shuichi ran over to the couch so as to tell Brandon what had happened and (hopefully) get some reassurance from his wiser friend— only to find him lying fast asleep on the couch. Shuichi pulled a blanket over Brandon and turned out the light before stumbling blindly into his own room and falling into the blissful abyss of sleep.

Somehow regardless of getting such a small amount of sleep, Shuichi woke bright and early and eager to start the day—not to mention quite curious as to where Sean had gotten that letter.

He found Sean sitting in the kitchenette, munching on room service French toast. Brandon, it seemed had relocated to his room and gone back to sleep which suited Shuichi perfectly. He sidled up next to Sean causing his friend to jump and shout in surprise.

"Christ! Don't scare me like that, yeah?"

Shuichi laughed and helped himself to a slice of French toast. "Sorry Sean. But hey, I've got something to ask you, if you don't mind."

"Sure, what's up?" Sean said, although most of his focus had returned to his food.

"You know that letter you gave me? The one from Yuki?"

Sean's chewing slowed. "Yeah…"

"You never told me how you got it, I'm just curious is all." Shuichi said lightly, though he was watching Sean's reaction closely.

Series of emotions flitted across Sean's face before finally settling on resignation. He stabbed aimlessly at the food on his plate before setting down the fork and answering. "I followed him. After I heard about you two fighting, I followed him after he left your apartment. I wanted to make sure, well honestly I just wanted to be sure he got on the plane and left. I saw him leave it on the bench. I'm sorry Shu, I should have stopped him from going, it's just-"

"We've been over this Sean, I already forgave you, remember? I just had to know how you got that letter, that's all." Shuichi said with a smile as he handed Sean his fork and then proceeded to pour some maple syrup over his own breakfast.

The rest of the week passed slowly and quickly all at once. Shuichi spent most of his free time hanging out in the hotel so as to avoid the press; he had opted not to talk to them until after the first concert. He didn't want to take attention away from his new band by talking about his old one-not that it really made much of a difference what he said, if the press couldn't find an answer they would make up a conclusion. He also didn't want to be faced with any questions about his relationship with Yuki that he didn't fully know the answers to. Speaking of…it seemed that the novelist had decided to disappear for the time being and if anyone knew where he was, they certainly weren't telling Shuichi. Brandon and Sean on the other hand regularly seemed to decide that they wanted to see the city and went out very often for several hours. Adella would stop by whenever she had the time and keep Shuichi company, but for the most part Shuichi was left alone in the hotel. Yet Shuichi didn't really mind, it gave him time to practice his new song to his heart's content, after all it had to be perfect for the concert.

And all of a sudden Friday had come. Brandon, Sean and Hiro all seemed to be dancing nervously around Shuichi, wanting to comfort him but at the same time feeling like they should heed the unspoken message he was sending: "Don't mention anything about tonight and I will be fine."

But as the day went on and the time for the concert approached, the three could see their friend, no matter how hard he tried to hide it, was not coping with his situation too well. It didn't take long for them to decide that Hiro should be the one to talk to him, after all he probably had the best understanding of the relationship between Yuki and Shuichi and therefore could offer the best advice.

After a bit of a discussion and a small argument Hiro managed to convince Shuichi to take a break from his pre-concert warm-ups, and join him for a breath of fresh air on the roof.

"What if he doesn't come."

Hiro wrapped an arm around Shuichi, pulling him into a light embrace. "He'll come. I promise. But Shu, no matter what, your friends are here for you, ok?"

Shuichi, though he might not have been incredibly convinced by Hiro, gave a nod of understanding and made his way back down to the stage.

Shuichi could barely hear the loud thunder of applause as he took a deep breath and stepped out onto the stage, forcing himself to smile as brightly as he possibly could. And yet, as he gazed through the bright stage lights, he had a strange feeling of nostalgia. It was if he had gone back 4 years to the very first time time he had ever performed on stage under the NG label- the nerves, the fans, the unconsciously searching the crowd for that one face he so wished to see. And as soon as his eyes connected with Yuki's the nostalgic feeling was gone. As similar as the situation was, this time it was most definitely different. Because this time Yuki was smiling too. And that was all it took to convince Shuichi that perhaps there was still hope in this incredibly twisted tales of theirs.

Shuichi slowed after he finished the most recent song, there was only one left on their list, and to Shuichi, it seemed that everything depended on it.

"Hey guys!" Shuichi said, addressing the crowd, though he was careful to keep his gaze away from the spot Yuki stood in, "This next and final song is a very new, it's only ever been heard by 4 people, myself included. It's also the only song that I've ever performed that wasn't written by me. It does, however, mirror my feelings perfectly. And I think, or at least I hope the same goes for the author."

The room at this point was near silent, some were very much eager to hear the new song, others were a little unsure about ending the concert with something unknown, but most of them wondering- and some hoping- that it had some connection to Yuki Eiri. However as soon as the music started and Shuichi began to sing together with the slow, beautiful melody the skeptical and impatient silence became one of pure entrancement. The tune was lovely, smooth and clean and the lyrics, even if they hadn't been written by Shuichi, he sang them as if they had come straight from the depths of his heart. The song lasted for less than three minutes but even so, as soon as it was finished the crowd erupted into cheers.

Shuichi grinned as he finished his song and glanced once more in the direction Yuki had been only to do an almost instant double take. The blonde haired novelist was gone. He quickly scoured the surrounding areas and then the entire venue, his spirits falling rapidly as his search proved fruitless. Shuichi thought he managed to mumble a thank you to the crowd before stumbling offstage, blatantly ignoring the pitying stares and comforting expressions that the other members of his bands were giving him. Perhaps this situation hadn't been unexpected but that didn't stop it from hurting like a bitch. Shuichi slowly shut the door to his changing room and sank down to the ground, using the door as support.

"You know you might want to consider getting new security here. The guy guarding the back just let me for just a small amount of money."

Shuichi's head instantly snapped up in shock. "Yuki!"

"That last song. Where'd you get it?"

"Sean found it." Shuichi said, watching Yuki's reaction carefully, "he gave it to me about a day or two after you and I…fought. It was a beautiful song, Yuki. I hope you don't mind that I used it."

Yuki smiled, "I wrote it for you, about you actually, but regardless, it was yours to do with as you pleased."

"I think it works both ways." Shuichi stated quietly. "Yuki…I really am sorry about everything, I created such a mess and you-"

"Don't worry about it right now, Shu. I think your fans are calling for an encore. But when you're done, will you come with me somewhere?"

Shuichi was a bit taken back. He had kind of assumed that Yuki would want to discuss things immediately, going somewhere that would be presumably more private was either a really good thing or a really bad thing. And Shuichi prayed that it was the former. Regardless though, Yuki was right, he had a bit more performing to do. Shuichi quickly nodded his consent and rushed out the door, nearly crashing into Hiro, Brandon, Sean, and, strangely enough, Suguru.

"Shuichi, are you alright?" Hiro asked hesitantly, alarmed by the joy in his friend's eyes, wasn't he supposed to be a bit more depressed considering the love of his life had decided to up and leave during the most important song of the concert?

"Never better, Hiro! Now we have an encore to play!"

Hiro just shook his head and shrugged before motioning for his companions to follow Shuichi.

Almost as soon as Shuichi and his band entered the stage, the crowd fell quiet, although this time there was muted whispering to keep it from going completely silent. But before Shuichi had time turn and ask what was going on, the music started…only this wasn't the music he, Sean, and Brandon had practiced. This was a song he hadn't heard in over three years. Slowly Shuichi turned around to face his band…or perhaps bands would be the better term as Brandon and Sean weren't the only two others on stage with Shuichi. It seemed that Suguru and Hiro had accompanied him as well.

"What…?" Shuichi whispered, unable to add anything more to the sentence due to his shocked state.

"We thought it might be fun to remake one of your old songs, hope you don't mind we added in an extra guitar part and some drums." Sean said with a grin, coming up to stand next to Shuichi.

"Now go on Shuichi, you do remember the lyrics to your own song, don't you?" Hiro called from the other side of the stage.

Shuichi smirked in acceptance to the challenge in Hiro's question and called for them to start the song one more time. Needless to say it was probably impossible for the concert to have been a bigger hit. With the beautiful and heartfelt song Shuichi sang in combination with the brief reuniting of Bad Luck and their performance of The Rage Beat, the concert was a clear success and no one even considered arguing otherwise.

The instant the song was finished Shuichi shouted a thank you to the crowd and darted off stage, back to his dressing room. As soon as he got to the door he came to a rather abrupt halt, took a deep breath and told himself to stay calm, at least in front of Yuki. After all, the only thing that had happened was that he hadn't been outright rejected, not yet at least. He opened the door to find Yuki still seated at the vanity, poking lazily around at various objects on the desk.

"Ready?" He asked once he had taken notice of Shuichi.

"Yeah just give me a second to change." Shuichi said, stepping aside from the entrance so Yuki could leave him in peace.

"K, but don't take too long, I'd rather not run into any press right now." Shuichi's only response was to roll his eyes and close the door, most likely the press was already outside, questions ready and cameras aimed. But nevertheless, he changed as quickly as he could so Yuki would be happy before following the novelist out a side entrance where, surprisingly enough, no paparazzi awaited them, and into a black Mercedes.

Shuichi had fully expected that Yuki would take him back to his flat or maybe to the park in which they had first met but before he knew it, they were outside the city limits and to be completely honest, it made him a little nervous.

"Yuki? Where are we going? If it's somewhere much further, I should probably tell Brandon and Sean where I'll be."

"Don't worry, I've already told Tohma where you'll be, but feel free to call them if you wish."

Shuichi thought it over for a few seconds, finally coming to the conclusion that calling any of his friends right now would only result in unwanted explanation.

"I think I'll pass. But still, could you tell me where we're going?"

Yuki just glanced over at Shuichi with a smile, "It's a long drive, just sleep for a while—you look exhausted."

Shuichi sorely wanted to press Yuki for a more direct answer but somehow the man's words seemed to hold a spell in them as a wave of fatigue washed over Shuichi. The only thing he could do was curl up and go to sleep.

--xXx--

Haha. Review, it makes my day ^^

Next and final chapter (I think): Shuichi and Yuki, together or not?


	26. Chapter 26

Ever have those moments where, for the life of you, you just can't figure out how to spell a word? That was me with the word "uncomfortable" in the opening sentence. No joke, I finally had to google it lol (I 3 google)

So I've switched over to replying to reviews the way we're supposed to, but to those of you who either don't have and account or are too lazy to sign in (like me 98% of the time when I review) here:

Shimmeringdawn: haha aw I'm glad you found it and I'm super glad you like it!!! :D

Ukefayt: haha so glad that was your favorite part—because it was mine too :P and good point about the 3 years thing, gotta love the irony. Woah…to think I was only 15/16 when I started this o.O weird.

Chibi_julie: hehe the conclusion…about that…well, you'll see :P

Disclaimer: …do they really check every chapter for these? …Do they even check at all? Oh well. Gravitation does not belong to me.

--xXx--

Shuichi woke suddenly to the sound of screeching tires and shattering glass as the car Yuki was driving collided into another that had crossed into their lane. ....Haha…ees a joke ;P

The first thing Shuichi noticed when he woke up was how incredibly uncomfortable he was (but then again when is sleeping in a car ever comfortable). The second thing he noticed was the lack of noise coming from the car. Instead of the soothing hum from the motor that had lulled him to sleep there was only a dull, far off roar- perhaps cars driving by on the highway. And the final thing he noticed was, regardless of the fact that the car was off, he was incredibly warm and not getting any colder. Shuichi slowly pushed himself up and twisted around so he was using the seat the way he was supposed to only to realize that the thing keeping him warm was, in fact, a blanket. And about 2 seconds later he realized that without said blanket, the car was actually rather chilly. After re-bundling himself up in the blanket, he turned to the next two items on his list: find Yuki and figure out where he was.

Yuki wasn't hard to find, the sun had probably gone down some time ago but the moon was out and Shuichi could make out his silhouette through the front windshield, leaning against the hood of the car, his back to Shuichi. But as to where he was, there were no clues—he couldn't even see lights in any direction!

"Yuki better give me a straight answer this time." Shuichi muttered to himself before stepping out of the car. As he walked over to where Yuki stood, Shuichi noticed that the ground slowly shifted from slightly gritty pavement to something soft and yielding… sand? Then that noise must be…

"The ocean?" Shuichi asked, voicing his question as he neared Yuki. He thought the novelist smiled but he definitely saw him nod in affirmation.

"Why?" There was nothing in his tone to make it seem like he thought it was a bad idea, only that he was curious.

Yuki shrugged. "I thought it would be best for us if we got away for a bit. No paparazzi constantly asking us questions, no friends butting into our affairs, just us…you don't like it?"

Shuichi moved to stand closer to Yuki. "It's brilliant; I've always loved the ocean." He said with a soft smile. "Though to be honest I thought you would take me back to your place or a park or something."

He heard Yuki chuckle. "I think, perhaps, we've had enough of parks. Besides, I've become rather fond of this place. But enough of this. Let's go closer to the water." Yuki didn't give time for Shuichi to suggest another option even if he had wanted to-not that Shuichi really minded-instead he just started walking down the beach towards the ocean. Shuichi trailed behind, he didn't really feel like running to catch up-he'd most likely end up with his face in the sand-and at least this way he could see when Yuki stopped.

It wasn't a long walk and soon enough the two were seated side by side on the cool sand, watching the waves rise and fall in the moonlight. Shuichi kicked off his shoes and sat kneading the cool sand with his knees drawn up to his chest so he might rest his head on something. He didn't exactly want to jump straight into his apology so instead he chose a different topic.

"So is this where you disappeared to this week?"

"Yeah," Yuki replied, his gaze fixed on the not too distant ocean waves. "I come here when I need to clear my head."

His words made Shuichi slightly uncomfortable and he was almost scared to ask his next question. "So… why did you come here this last week?"

Yuki turned his head, looking straight at Shuichi who was surprised and a little annoyed to see amusement playing through Yuki's eyes. "Don't worry it has nothing to with your concert."

Shuichi glared, offended that Yuki would so lightly brush off something that had been so important to him and he opened his mouth to say so, but Yuki spoke again.

"I had planned on going to that even before you asked me."

Shuichi shut his mouth. And despite Yuki's words, he was still on edge. "Then what was the reason?"

Yuki looked him over thoughtfully, "Perhaps I'll tell you later. But if I recall correctly, you had something you wanted to say."

Shuichi nodded his head, relieved to finally have a chance to get this off his chest and settle the score between them although he made a mental note to press Yuki for the real reason later. "What I wanted to say, back there at the concert, was thank you for…helping my mother. According to Maiko you basically saved her life."

"I didn't—"

"Please just let me finish. I'm sorry about the way I've acted these past few weeks. I said I'd give you a second chance, but I didn't, not completely at least. And to be perfectly honest now that I know more I'm not entirely sure it was you who needed a second chance. I mean…I shouldn't have even left in the first place." At this point Shuichi had turned his gaze away from Yuki and had taken to drawing random designs in the sand. "I'm sorry I was—and have been—so stupid."

Yuki seemed to think things over for while before responding.

"Well first off Shuichi, yes, you are stupid." Shuichi's finger froze mid-swirl and his heart felt as though it had entered a sudden, unwanted free-fall. "But we've always known that." Shuichi cautiously tilted his head and stared at Yuki, confused as to what on earth he was trying to say and was relieved albeit a tad surprised to see that same amused expression from before back on his face.

"Also, it doesn't take a genius to understand the reason I did anything for your mother was because I knew it would kill you if anything happened to her—and don't argue" Yuki said quickly, sensing an imminent protest from Shuichi, "I'm sure we could go on and on about the reasoning for things. But—Shuichi—We both messed up and, well, it won't do us any good to focus on the past, and as far as I can tell everything seems to be turning out pretty well. So…" Yuki trailed off and frowned, he was certain that he had never sounded so incoherent in his life. All he wanted was for Shuichi to understand what he was trying to say, to know what he truly felt, but it seemed that so many years worth of cold glares and blank looks had destroyed his ability to reveal his innermost feelings.

Shuichi sat and pondered, trying to make sense of what Yuki had just said before turning the 90 degrees so he could face the other straight on. "So…You're saying we should just pretend none of this ever happened and continue our lives as we had before I left."

"Shuichi that's not what I'm saying at all. I…I'm asking you to forgive me. I'm sorry for treating you the way I did, I took you for granted, and I shouldn't have. In all honesty it might have been a good thing you left, it made me see… how much I really cared for you. My life just wasn't the same without you around, I mean sure you could be loud and annoying but… all of that, well, I guess it kind of grew on me."

Shuichi raised an eyebrow. Now that he knew Yuki didn't hate him, he felt a bit more at ease and couldn't help but take the opportunity to tease him a little. "…Annoying? You think I'm annoying?" He asked, trying to sound serious and offended even though the huge grin on his face suggested otherwise.

"Shuichi that's not what I—" Yuki caught sight of Shuichi's laughing smirk and glared. "Don't play with me like, brat!" He froze as soon as the last word left his mouth and prayed Shuichi wouldn't get insulted for real. But the other just laughed in the happy, carefree manner that Yuki hadn't heard in far too long. Smiling with contentment and relief, Yuki locked his hands behind his head and let himself fall back into the sand. Soon enough he felt Shuichi lie down on his side next to him and shortly after his face appeared in Yuki's line of vision, still grinning mischievously.

"You didn't actually think I was serious, did you."

Yuki eyes gleamed dangerously and he sat up on his elbows so that their faces were mere millimeters apart. "I think you need to shut up." Before Shuichi had time to respond, Yuki had closed the gap between them and placed a soft, sweet kiss on his lips. And almost as soon as he had started it, Yuki pulled away and looked into Shuichi's shocked purple eyes, all amusement was gone and the two just stared at each other for a long while, their breath mingling in the cool night air and dissipating just as quickly.

Finally Shuichi dropped his head onto Yuki's shoulder and wrapped the hand that wasn't supporting his body weight around his neck.

"…I really missed you, Yuki. A lot more than I let myself realize."

"Then…you admit to missing me." Shuichi could practically hear the teasing smirk in his voice. He sat up so the two were face to face again, giving Yuki a mock glare before caving in.

"Alright, I'll admit that there were some moments when I really wanted to come back—but not many!"

Yuki was silent for a minute. "Why didn't you?" His voice was quiet and the tone made Shuichi shiver and look down.

"I didn't think you'd want me anymore."

Yuki's response was a small laugh and a whispered "And this is why I call you an idiot." He quickly shifted their position, pushing Shuichi gently down onto the sand and kissing him once more. This time, however, the kiss was longer, deeper and by the time the two broke apart they were breathing heavily both from lack of air and want for the other. Yuki slid his hand to the back of Shuichi's head and intertwined his fingers with locks of soft hair and gritty sand, resting his forehead gently against his companions.

"I love you."

--xXx--

So… I could end it here…but, I don't really know….I feel like I have some loose ends to tie up, but maybe that's just me…what say the readers? Or…other suggestions? I'm kinda at a loss right now, I have more written in relation to this story but… *sigh* I just don't know what to do. :(


	27. Chapter 27

**Warning:** sexual encounters in this chapter (haha…that's an amusing way of putting it…)

To everyone who reviewed, and especially those who encouraged me to continue a bit more, thank you so much! You guys really just make my day with the reviews, dead serious. I love you all!

Disclaimer: …really?

p.s. apology for grammar mistakes, this was the result of an all-nighter. …I really need to start having my stories beta'd haha

-xXx-

"_I love you."_

The words were quiet, whispered, he couldn't see Shuichi's reaction as the moonlight had at some point disappeared completely and from the silence he wasn't even sure if the other had heard, or even worse was rejecting him. But finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a sand-speckled hand reached up and brushed against his cheek.

"Me too. " Shuichi slid his hand from Yuki's cheek and wrapped both arms tightly around his neck, pulling him into a soft yet deeply intimate kiss. Yuki responded almost instantly, pressing himself down into Shuichi and sliding his leg up between Shuichi's forcing them farther apart the higher he went. One hand glided down the length of Shuichi's torso until it reached the hem of his shirt. Yuki slipped his hand under the garment and was about to push it up and off when he paused and pulled away from Shuichi ever so slightly.

"Shuichi..." Yuki began hesitantly, "Are you ok with this? I mean..." He trailed off, not entirely sure how to finish the sentence. But either way Shuichi had gotten the message. With an almost devious smile he pushed himself up onto his elbows so he was once again level with Yuki though this time, instead of kissing him, he pushed Yuki firmly in the shoulder, rolling the two of them over so that he was on top. He quickly divested himself of his own shirt, tossing it carelessly to the side. Leaning down his hand mimicked Yuki's actions from moments before though this time, instead of stopping, his hand continued its path beneath Yuki's shirt until it slowly started to trace a tantalizing circle around one nipple. He lowered his head moved a bit to the side, planting a kiss on the soft skin right below Yuki's ear before softly biting his earlobe. He felt a shiver run through Yuki's body and pulled back.

"Anymore questions?"

"Such a tease." Yuki growled, flipping them back over and ridding Shuichi and himself from the rest of their clothes. Shuichi grinned, he toyed with the idea of taking control of the situation again but one of Yuki's slippery digits pushed into his body while another not so slippery one brushed over a nipple and all coherent thought was chased from his mind. Yuki seemed set on taking his time, on making sure that Shuichi would feel no pain when he took him but after a while Shuichi decided enough was enough and was about to say so when the fingers were removed and mere seconds later Shuichi found himself joined with the only man he had ever loved for the first time in three years. He felt Yuki place feather light kisses on his eyelids and nose before claiming his lips in a deep kiss as he slowly began to thrust in and out of the small singer.

Shuichi couldn't stop the groan of bliss that passed his lips nor control the way his body arched into Yuki's as the blond hit that one spot that clouded his mind with lust and sent ribbons of pure pleasure coursing through his body. Perhaps one day he would take complete control of the situation but for now he just gave into the artful ministrations of Yuki and let himself be swept away; as far as he was concerned, the world was once again perfect.

The two shivered, both were coming off of their high and now the cold sea air was much more biting on their overly sensitive skin. The two lay side by side, panting in the sand, sweat and other stickier substances gluing sand onto their skin as it dried. Finally Yuki mustered the energy to fumble around for the pile of discarded clothes. Upon finding it he tossed Shuichi his pants.

"I have no idea where your shirt is but at least put those on; I'd rather you didn't get sick." Shuichi complied, finding himself too exhausted to form a verbal response. He brushed as much sand from his body as possible before slipping into the article of clothing and once again laying back into the sand and closing his eyes. He was vaguely aware of Yuki lying next to him and he instinctively snuggled closer to the warmth.

"Shuichi we need to get inside." Yuki murmured beside him, fingers slowly twirling strands of Shuichi's silken hair around his fingertips. Shuichi opened his eyes and stared up at the darkened sky. He knew Yuki was right but…he just couldn't be bothered to move. It also seemed that Yuki, despite what he had said, was of a similar disposition.

Neither of them paid any mind when they felt the first drops of rain that lightly splattered against their skin and heard the light patter of it on the sand around them. They did however notice when the sky was illuminated by a bright, jagged line of light that lanced across the sky followed by the more dangerous growl of thunder.

"Come on, we're going, I won't let either of us get struck by lightning." Yuki said abruptly, pulling Shuichi up, throwing his coat over his shoulders and dragging him down the beach.

"This isn't the way back to the car!" Shuichi called out to Yuki, though he wondered if the novelist would even hear him; the storm was growing by the second and it was getting difficult to hear anything other than the crash of angry waves or thunder.

"I know! Come on!" Yuki yelled back, taking Shuichi's hand and pulling him along the beach. Shuichi sensed at some point that they had started going uphill but it took a few minutes to realize that they were walking on an old, wooden staircase that had been made soft in the rain water. It wasn't until the two were sheltered under the overhang of some building that Yuki let go of Shuichi's hand and immediately started searching the pockets of the coat he had put on Shuichi for something.

"Where are we?" Shuichi asked, out of breath from the run.

Yuki didn't answer right away; he had found what he was looking for- a key- and was busy opening the door, quickly pulling Shuichi inside and shutting it again to block out the storm that was now in full swing. Shuichi leaned back against the door with Yuki directly in front of him, an arm resting on either side of his head, both still breathing hard from the unexpected run.

"So…Are you going to tell me what this place is and why you have a key or not." Shuichi asked once he'd caught his breath. Yuki chuckled and moved away to flick on a light before turning to face Shuichi who was still using the door for support and was looking at Yuki expectantly.

"Sorry, I probably should have mentioned it earlier. I bought this place about 2 years ago, kind of a midlife crisis type thing."

Shuichi raised an eyebrow. "Yuki… you're only 27."

"Fine. It was a pre-midlife crisis. Happy now?" He said, moving past to Shuichi to grab a towel from a small table in the corner. "Here, wipe the sand off your feet."

Shuichi took the towel and complied, the rain had washed a large amount of sand from his face and hair but Yuki hadn't given him time to put his shoes on before they ran for cover.

"Remind me again why we had to sprint all the way here." Shuichi prompted bluntly, attempting to towel dry his hair with a clean part of the towel.

"Like I said," Yuki began, running a towel through his own hair. "I'd rather neither of us was struck by lightning; a beach is one of the most dangerous places you could be during a lightning storm, any complaints?" He asked dropping the towel and wrapping his arms loosely around Shuichi.

"Of course not." Shuichi said blushing slightly. "Now is there a place I could maybe wash off? Sand is only ok on the beach." Shuichi stated, breaking out of Yuki's embrace so he could lay the towel back on the counter.

"Yeah, upstairs, just follow me." Yuki said, opening second door in the room and hitting another light switch out in the hallway.

"Upstairs? How big is this place?" Shuichi asked, houses in Japan were never very large and having a second home on the beach was very rare, but a two story home seemed a bit ridiculous.

Yuki shrugged. "It's big enough. Now come on, I'll show you where the shower is."

Shuichi followed him silently, taking in the surroundings as he passed. The place was elegant, modern and tastefully decorated; nothing too flashy but nothing too dull either.

Shuichi was so busy staring at the artwork hanging on the walls that he didn't notice Yuki had stopped and subsequently walked straight into him.

"Ow." He muttered, rubbing the side of his face. Yuki just rolled his eyes.

"That didn't hurt. And it was your own fault so don't expect me to feel sorry for you." When Yuki saw Shuichi's glare he sighed. "Sorry. Anyway, here's the shower, I'll leave some clothes out on the bed for when you're done."

Shuichi looked in surprise at where Yuki was motioning; he hadn't realized that they had entered a bedroom, but before he had time to focus on that Yuki started to walk out of the room.

"Where are you going?" Shuichi asked; he had half been expecting that Yuki would want them to shower together.

"I just have to take care of some things." Yuki said dismissively. "I'll see you when you're done though."

Shuichi shrugged to himself, too tired too care, and entered the bathroom, very keen on washing all the gritty sand from his skin and hair as soon as possible.

-xXx-

By the time Yuki returned to the room after his own shower and a few phone calls, Shuichi was already fast asleep, curled up on the edge of the Queen-size bed, dangerously close to falling over the side, a damp towel lay, draped over his shoulder, in imitation of a blanket. Yuki moved closer to the sleeping boy, intent on removing the wet towel and tucking him under the real covers—regardless of anything that happened, several people would have his head if Shuichi got sick mid tour. When Yuki tugged the towel off, he realized just how tired Shuichi was, it seemed he had only managed to get the pajama pants on and one arm into the t-shirt before curling up and falling asleep.

"Idiot." Yuki muttered fondly, brushing some of the brown bangs away from Shuichi's face, "If you were so tired you should have just said so." He considered removing the shirt but Shuichi, was so tightly curled around it that it would have been impossible not to wake him. So instead he switched his attention to the issue of getting the singer underneath the covers. Yet almost as soon as he began to readjust the blankets, a rather sleepy voice interrupted him.

"Yuki? Where've you been?"

"I was on my way to bed; I just wanted to see if you needed anything." Now that Shuichi was awake, or at least half awake, it made the task of getting him under the covers a whole lot easier.

Shuichi, now safe and warm under the blankets, stared up at Yuki, eyes blurry with sleep and confusion.

"You aren't staying here?"

"Did you want me to?" Yuki had thought that, even if they had for all intents and purposes made up, Shuichi would still have some qualms about trusting Yuki too much right away.

Shuichi grinned. "Of course I do, stupid." He said, sliding over so Yuki would have room to join him. Yuki, although initially surprised by Shuichi's response, just smiled back and crawled under the covers. When he rolled onto his side to face Shuichi, he noticed a scowl had spread across the smaller male's face.

"What's wrong?" No way could he have done something wrong that quickly.

"This spot of the bed's cold…" Shuichi mumbled. Yuki half-smiled into the pillow and pulled Shuichi closer to him so that the singer's head was resting on his shoulder and Yuki's arms were wrapped tightly around him.

"Go to sleep, Shu." Yuki whispered softly. Shuichi managed to mumble a "G'night" before drifting off to sleep once more, followed closely by Yuki.

-xXx-

Shuichi was up well before Yuki, he wasn't entirely sure what exactly had woken him up he only knew that for the life of him he couldn't fall back asleep. He attempted to force himself to sleep by snuggling closer into Yuki, hoping that the extra warmth would help lull him back to sleep. Yet his efforts proved fruitless. Finally Shuichi sighed in defeat and rolled away from Yuki to rest his head on a pillow, glaring enviously at his… Shuichi frowned, his what? Boyfriend? Lover? They had straightened everything out about the past but…they hadn't touched on the subject of the future at all. Shuichi felt the cold snake of reality uncoil in his gut as another thought hit him. Once this tour was over Shuichi would be back in the states. What would happen to them then? Would Yuki move to America with him? Shuichi shook his head, wouldn't that be just like Yuki asking Shuichi to quit the band? No, he could never take Yuki away from his work but…he certainly couldn't quit on Brandon and Sean either. Shuichi pressed the side of his face into the pillow, trying to suppress all of the negative thoughts that were building inside of him. Finally Shuichi decided that it would be best to leave the room before he did something that would cause Yuki to wake up—at the very least one of them could get a good night's sleep, and to be honest he didn't really want to bring this subject to Yuki's attention just yet. He silently stepped out of bed and grabbed the T-shirt he hadn't quite managed to get on last night from where it had fallen on the floor, and slipped it easily over his head and shoulders. He had just entered the hallway, partially closing the door behind him when his stomach let out an unhappy grumble…well, as long as he was up…

The kitchen was easy enough to find, all Shuichi had to do was follow the hallway to where it opened up into a spacious room—half of which was the kitchen and half of which was a, elegantly decorated living room. Golden sunlight filled the room with the warm glow of morning as it shone through the large glass windows that made up three of the walls. Shuichi grabbed a handful of mandarin oranges that he found sitting in a large bowl on one of the kitchen counters. He could only presume Yuki stocked it during his last visit considering Shuichi hadn't seen anything grocery-like in the car last night. He pulled a beige armchair around so it was facing the largest glass window, allowing him to look out onto the shore below and started to peel his fruit; trying to focus his attention on the scene beyond the window instead of the recent thoughts that had been plaguing him. And eventually it worked. Now that the world was illuminated once more, Shuichi could see that the beach was not completely sand as he had originally thought. A large piece of rough black stone on the far side of the beach jutted out from the sandy hill and continued down the beach until it became submerged in the blue-gray water of the ocean. Shuichi watched with tranquil intrigue as wave after wave threw itself onto the stone only to shatter into a million glittering pieces and finally fall back to safety. He was so enthralled with the scene below that he was completely unaware of the other presence in the room.

"So this is where you disappeared to."

And just like that Shuichi's peaceful spell was broken and all his doubts and insecurities returned in full.

"Yuki! You scared me!" Shuichi exclaimed, trying to sound as normal as possible in that situation.

"Uh huh." Yuki said slowly, giving Shuichi a scrutinizing look. "Everything ok?"

Shuichi gave Yuki an annoyed look. "I'm fine, now stop asking that so often."

Yuki held up his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright. Sorry for being concerned, you just seemed a little tense."

"Of course I am! You nearly gave me a heart attack just now!" Shuichi said with a glare.

Yuki stared at Shuichi for a moment, trying to figure out why he was freaking out. "Right. Well at any rate, good morning. You hungry? I can…" Yuki trailed off, his eyes falling on the small pile of orange peels. He looked at Shuichi and raised a brow. "Do you just like to peel things or was there a point to this?" Shuichi followed Yuki's gaze and couldn't help but laugh. It seemed he had peeled all of his fruit but then completely forgotten to eat them. So there they were, lined up on the windowsill, like little ducklings in a row.

"I don't know." Shuichi said, still laughing, "I think they're kind of cute."

"Of course you would." Yuki said, trying to seem annoyed, though he failed to hide the laughter in his eyes—but then again, maybe he wasn't really trying.

Shuichi faked a punch at Yuki's arm and grabbed the peels from the floor as well as an orange from the windowsill before heading into the kitchen. "Shall we make breakfast then? And help yourself to an orange!" He called over his shoulder. Shuichi thought he heard Yuki mutter something about them being his oranges in the first place, but ignored the comment. As the two prepared breakfast together Shuichi felt himself relax a bit; he still had a couple weeks in Japan to sort everything out with Yuki and his band so for now he just wanted to enjoy perfection.

-xXx-

So….I have been up all night writing this. Seriously. My alarm is set to go off in 43 minutes haha. Thank god it's summer. Hahahahaha ok so I've been working on this on the downstairs couch. My dad just came down on his way to work and was like "…have you been down here all night?" me: "uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh more or less…took a trip to Safeway at 12:30 for chocolate but…yeah."

**Anyway **I'm thinking the only thing I will have after this is an epilogue of sorts that I think you guys will like. But then I'm done with this because I really want to focus on And All Because of a Ring. I'm having a ton of fun writing that story. You have no idea. I've been researching the Central America like no other.

So then. Review if you are so inclined :D (it makes me happy)

…I'm going to sleep now. Before my mom wakes up and makes me do summer homework.


	28. Epilogue

So this "epilogue" morphed into a chapter of its own. But you guys don't mind, right? Anyway, here you go!

Review replies (If you can even remember your review lol)

**A.L. Aviles**: Aw thanks! Glad you liked it! Yep, but this is the last of it

**Kaoru Sayuri Kamiya:** Haha, if you liked that fluff, this chapter…well I guess you'll find out ;)

**Chochowilliams**: Agreed, those two really just needed to sit down and kind of talk things through..but now that that's done… :D

**Sarah83654123**: thank you, thank you! I can't believe it's done now, though! Crazy!

**Pombella4**: Haha, 3years in the making…that's slightly ironic. Love it 3

**Lilgurlanima**: Thanks! I liked the oranges too, definitely something I've done before haha

**Suns** **and** **stars**: Thanks!

**Spirit** **Avenger**: Right? Just when you think it's done more comes along…like those stupid fake endings in LotR 3 the screen kept going black and then it would continue on! So silly…but this time it's really done.

Disclaimer: own plot. That's it. …and Sean, and Brandon haha.

-xXx-

Shuichi heaved a heavy sigh inwardly, the interview had been going for nearly an hour now and the curvy brunette asking the questions had only been touching on menial things like how the new single was coming. They both knew that kind of information wasn't what the fans wanted at this point; they both knew that wasn't going to put in the article.

"Riley, if you don't mind I'd like to move on to topics that are a bit more personal."

"Certainly!" Shuichi said with a perfected smile, the Americans hadn't quite warmed to his "new" name and still preferred to use his alias. He didn't particularly mind the continued use of 'Riley' but…it always left him with a small feeling of guilt, even though everything had been more or less reconciled—for the most part, although Shuichi had returned to the states, Yuki had remained in Japan.

"You caused quite a ruckus with the tour in Japan and I realize this is a very broad question, but do you think you could enlighten us as to the reason?"

Shuichi laughed slightly at the impreciseness of the question; this wasn't exactly the easiest thing to explain. "Well there really isn't too much to know. Back in Japan I was part of a pop band called Bad Luck and I guess you could say we were fairly big. So I suppose it isn't surprising that if the lead singer of a band at that level up and leaves without any warning and comes back three years later, it might cause some excitement."

"If you don't mind me asking, why exactly did you leave?"

Shuichi just shrugged and laughed, "I guess I just needed a change of pace, I wasn't happy where I was."

The interviewer thought for a moment, formulating her next question carefully. "We've heard rumors that you said you reconnected with an old boyfriend—Yuki Eiri is it? Where is he now?"

"He…stayed in Japan. I made my decision to come back with Brandon and Sean, they're my life now."

The interviewer looked as if she didn't know whether to look sympathetic or supportive. She finally settles on simply saying, "I'm sorry."

Shuichi just shrugged. "I guess we don't always end up with our fairytale endings, do we?"

The interviewer half smiled, "Well then Riley, those are all the questions I had. Thank you for your time." Shuichi smiled, thanked her and quickly escorted her out of the building.

Almost as soon as the interviewer was gone, Shuichi pulled out his phone and arranged to meet both Brandon and Sean for drinks. The fact that it was only 3 in the afternoon was of little importance. He just needed something—anything—to numb the pain.

About an hour later, Shuichi headed out to meet Brandon and Sean. He sighted his friends standing in front of the designated restaurant and was about to wave and call out to them when he noticed that the gestures between the two seemed a bit…stressed and urgent. Slowing his walk, he approached cautiously, trying to catch bits of their conversation before they noticed him—if they knew he had arrived they'd probably return to being their usual happy selves and refuse to tell him what was going on.

"I don't see why you're so against this!" He heard Sean whisper furiously. "Now's the time when he needs someone!" Shuichi felt sick; for once he just wished the conversation didn't have to revolve around him and the insinuation that he couldn't take care of himself.

"Yeah! He needs _friends_! Sean, you'll only make things worse. If Shu—" Brandon cut off, the color slowly draining from his face. "…Shuichi. How long have you been standing there?"

Shuichi shrugged, trying to fight back his frustration. "Care to tell me what you're discussing?" He saw a small amount of relief flicker across Brandon's eyes but Sean's reaction was just to glare at the blond friend and look away.

"It's…nothing important…" Brandon explained lamely.

"Ok…then it wouldn't be a problem for me to know, would it?" Shuichi waited patiently for an answer but when Sean only continued to glare off in another direction, occasionally redirecting it towards Brandon and it became very clear that Brandon was at a complete loss for words, Shuichi spoke again.

"Come on you two! Whatever it is you can tell me, and if it concerns me then don't I especially have the right to know?"

"Fine." Brandon said with a sigh of defeat, causing Sean to stop glaring and look over at Brandon curiously. "What would you say…if someone were to ask you out right now?"

"…Huh?" This certainly had not been what he was expecting.

"What I mean is, are you at all looking to start dating again or is it to soon?"

"What? Why?"

"Well…Since Yuki stayed in Japan we sort of thought maybe you two were completely through." Sean said, speaking up for the first time.

Shuichi stared at the two of them in bewilderment; they had _never_ even tried to suggest dating to him so why now? "I…could we not discuss this right now? It just feels…weird."

"Right. Sorry, Shu. We won't bring it up anymore." Brandon said, giving Sean a pointed look and throwing an arm around Shuichi's shoulders so as to lead him into the restaurant. "Now let's go eat! I'm starving."

Much to Shuichi's relief the rest of the night proved to have happy—though that might have been due to the excessive amount of alcohol consumed, especially by Shuichi. Regardless, the three talked and laughed without a care in the world, staying until the restaurant kicked them out so they could close.

"Oi, Shuichi! Think you can make it home ok?" Brandon asked as they exited the restaurant.

"Of course! No worries, I'll be fine." The singer said with a giggle.

Sean shook his head walking over to help Shuichi hold himself up. "I'm going to make sure Shuichi gets home safely." The brunette said to Brandon.

"Really, I'm fine!" Shuichi shrugged Sean's arm off of him. "I promise I'll go straight home."

"Sure. Next thing you know we get a call from the cops saying they found you wandering the city streets, completely lost."

Shuichi glared at his friend. "I'm not _that_ drunk, Sean."

"I know, I would just feel better making sure you got back safely."

Shuichi fought the urge to roll his eyes in irritation; Sean just wanted to do what was best for him after all. "Fine. See you tomorrow, Brandon!" Shuichi said to the blond who had been watching the conversation with an odd expression on his face.

"Sure…hey Sean! Call me when you get home, yeah?"

"Of course."

As soon as Brandon was out of sight, Sean pulled Shuichi over to darker nook on the sidewalk.

"What are we doing?" Shuichi asked in a loud whisper, "Playing spy?" Shuichi burst into giggles at his own suggestion.

"Eh?" Sean said, smiling at how adorable Shuichi could be. "Actually there was something I wanted to tell you."

"Ok!" Shuichi smiled up at him expectantly.

"You see…the thing is," Sean stuttered, somehow finding that his mouth was no longer working properly. He stopped talking and took a deep breath. "I-I like you."

Shuichi grinned and looped his arm through Sean's "Aw I like you too!"

"No, Shuichi, that's not what I mean." Sean said seriously, pulling his arm from Shuichi's and turning the other to face him head on, "I mean I really like you…" Sean watched his friend's face; he could tell the words weren't quite reaching Shuichi so he did the only other thing he could think of, he pulled Shuichi close to him and, very carefully, brought their lips together. Sean smiled at the feel of Shuichi's lips against his own and reached up to try and pull Shuichi's head even closer, attempting to make Shuichi open his mouth and kiss back But all too suddenly he was shoved away.

"Sean what the hell are you doing?" Shuichi yelled, stumbling backwards in shock.

"Shuichi please," Sean implored, taking a step forward—to which Shuichi's immediate reaction was to back away. "I would treat you so much better than Yuki ever did, so please just give me a chance."

Shuichi stared down at the pavement, unwilling and unable to look his friend in the eye. He couldn't wrap his around what had just happened; perhaps that last martini really had been a bad idea. Shuichi shook his head; no, either way he would be just as confused. An inkling of suspicion began to form in his mind and he looked up at his friend. "This doesn't have anything to do with the reason why you tried to break Yuki and I apart, does it?" Shuichi asked, praying that the answer was no.

"Well…It may have influenced that decision. But I really did think I was doing what was best for you!"

As much as Shuichi wanted to be angry with the confession, he just couldn't bring himself to; he was tired of this stupid twisted mess and wanted nothing more than to be back in his apartment, curled up in his bed.

"Sean." He began slowly, forcing himself maintain eye contact. "I'm sorry, but I still love Yuki. Even if I never see him again, I can't let go just yet. Sorry."

Sean hesitantly nodded his head, "I understand. And to be honest I kind of expected that answer, guess I just wanted to let you know anyway in case your mind ever changes."

An empty smile ghosted across Shuichi's face. "Even if Yuki didn't exist, I don't think I could see you that way. I'm sorry. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm tired." He said, brushing past Sean to continue on the route home.

Eventually he made it to his apartment, taking only a minor detour through the park. Honestly some part of him had hoped that Yuki would magically appear if he went there, but no luck. With a heavy sigh, Shuichi inserted the key into the lock and turned it, waiting for the telling click that would signal that the door was open. But it never came. In fact the key didn't even twist. Shuichi frowned, positive he had locked it before he left, he _always_ locked it. Ever so cautiously he turned the knob and pushed the door open. At first glance everything seemed like it was in order; nothing was knocked over nor, as far as he could tell, was anything missing. And then he spotted the blond lying on his couch, reading a novel of some sorts—which in itself made the situation even more bizarre in Shuichi's eyes; he rarely saw Yuki reading.

"Yu-Yuki!" He exclaimed, shutting the door and walking over the novelist. "What—How?"

Yuki looked up, finally noticing Shuichi's presence, "Oh. You're back." He stated simply, as if his presence was the most unexciting thing in the world. His nose scrunched up as Shuichi got closer, "You reek by the way; alcohol is very unbecoming on you."

"I'm back….you're here…explain please." Shuichi said dazedly; this really was turning out to be one hell of a night.

"Is it really such a shock that I'm here, Shuichi?" Yuki asked, sitting upright.

"Well, yeah…I thought we were through."

"Exactly. You _thought_. Number one, thinking has never really been your highest skill. Number two, did you ever even ask for my opinion about the situation?"

Shuichi frowned slightly in thought. "No, I guess I assumed you would want to stay; besides it didn't feel right asking you to leave your work behind."

Yuki studied Shuichi carefully. "I don't know if I should say that's thoughtful or idiotic. Because you are aware that I can write wherever I am, right?"

Shuichi glared slightly. "As it happens I'm well aware, but you're always so involved with your editor and such I—" Yuki cut him off with a tug on his wrist, light enough to not cause any harm but firm enough to pull him down onto his lap.

"Well doesn't matter because as it happens I completed the final manuscript of my last novel two days ago."

Shuichi's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "You're done with writing?"

"Er…Not quite, I've still got tours and they want me to write the adaption for one of my novels into a movie but once that settles down, I guess yeah, I'm done. Although I suppose I might write the occasional short story…"

Shuichi laughed lightly. "So really you aren't done."

"We'll see." Yuki said with a smile, kissing Shuichi on the cheek.

"Then…Yuki…what are you doing here?"

"I told you, didn't I? I love you, so I know this is difficult for you, but think about it logically: where else would I want to be?"

"It's amazing how you can be so condescending yet so sweet all at once." Shuichi said, readjusting his position so he could lean against Yuki's chest more comfortably.

He felt Yuki's shrug behind to him, "It's part of my charm."

"Haha, very funny. Um, how'd you get in?" Shuichi asked, suddenly remembering that he had at no point given Yuki a key to the apartment.

"Adella gave me her key, asked me to return it to you."

Shuichi was silent, returning? Did that mean he wasn't staying? "So are you…"

"Intelligent? Amazing? Handsome?"

Shuichi rolled his eyes and shrugged away from Yuki. "I was _going_ to ask if you were staying for good this time."

Yuki smiled and pulled Shuichi into him. "I really _do _need to spell it out for you, don't I? Yes. I'm staying. Here, if you'll let me."

"Shut up jerk," Shuichi said, attempting to sound angry though the huge smile that covered his face made it difficult, "I just wanted to be sure." Shuichi wrapped his arms around Yuki's neck and buried his face in Yuki's chest, trying to contain the pure joy that was flooding his body. "And of course you can stay with me." Shuichi rested contentedly against Yuki. He smiled at the thought of being able to tell his friends the news

"You know Brandon and Sean—" Oh. And just like that the happiness was gone. How could he have forgotten?

"Shu." Yuki whispered softly, his warm breath tickling Shuichi's ear. "Look at me." Shuichi complied reluctantly and looked up, though his eyes remained averted from Yuki's. He felt a pair of lips press against his own and he immediately pulled back, a wave of guilt flooding his system—but whether it was towards Yuki or Sean he wasn't sure.

"Shuichi what's wrong?" Shuichi turned his head away and twisted out of Yuki's grasp, hugging his knees to his chest.

"After dinner tonight, Sean—he told me he liked me." Shuichi admitted quietly. Yuki went silent and still next to him, something Shuichi didn't take to be a good sign.

"And what did you say?" The novelist asked calmly, though Shuichi had to wonder if that was what he truly felt.

"I refused him, of course!" Shuichi replied instantly, lilting his head to look at Yuki in hopes that even if his words couldn't convey the truth, his expression would.

"And you're ok with that?"

Shuichi shot Yuki an annoyed look. "Don't be stupid, I wouldn't have said it if I didn't mean it."

"Well then, I'm failing to see what you're so worked up about."

Shuichi rested his head back on his knees. "He kissed me."

Before Shuichi was even aware of what was happening, Yuki's lips covered his and he was pulled back onto Yuki lap. The kiss was innocent enough at first but soon Yuki's touch was coaxing and pleading for a more passionate response from Shuichi to which he very happily obliged. When they finally broke apart, both breathing harder than normal from the extended time period without any air, Shuichi rested his forehead against Yuki's, interlocking one hand with Yuki's hair while the other rested on his chest.

"What was that for?" Shuichi asked once they had both calmed down somewhat.

"Nothing really, just erasing his touch from your memory." Yuki said half jokingly, placing another light kiss on Shuichi's lips and then leaning back into the couch with a serious expression on his face. "Shuichi I'm not stupid enough to let us start off on a bad note. If you say you rejected him than that's that. I believe you."

Shuichi's face lit up at Yuki's words but dimmed almost instantly. "Thanks, but can you promise me one thing?"

"What?"

"Promise me you won't flaunt our relationship in front of him, I don't want to hurt him more than I already have."

Yuki raised an eyebrow. "Shuichi, when have I ever "flaunted our relationship? If I recall, you were the one that did that—constantly, might I add." Shuichi gave Yuki a pointed look. "Fine, fine. But if he gets to close…" Shuichi grinned and threw his arms around Yuki's neck.

"Love you, Yuki!"

Yuki returned the hug with one arm, the other hand slowly reached into his pocket, pulling out a smooth, sparkling piece of jewelry from his pocket. He held it up to the light, looking at it over the top of Shuichi's head and, after a moment, replaced it; the time for that would come, hopefully, but for now it was best to start on even footing. He ran his fingers through Shuichi's hair and kissed the top of his head.

"I love you too, brat."

-xXx-

Ah hell. That got cheesy as fuck at the end. Sorry for those who weren't expecting that slash don't like that kind of stuff. But I have to say, that was necessary for me, I'm having an awful week and I just needed to write something to make it go away.

So, now that this is OFFICIALLY over. I just want to say something super cheesy, I feel like I can say it now so it doesn't seem like I'm just desperately trying to get reviews. The reviews you guys wrote were absolutely wonderful! Whenever I was having one of those awful days-from-hell where all you want to do is disappear, reading your guys' reviews always made me feel better. Really you people say the sweetest and funniest things. Love you all!


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